Cabrillo College from above.
(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)
Lookout PM Archive

LOOKOUT PM: A closer look at the enrollment struggle for California’s JCs

Happy Monday evening, folks.

Here comes some warm temperatures.

To those headlines...

A plan for 300 on-campus beds for Cabrillo College students? Here’s how that is taking shape

Cabrillo College from above
Cabrillo College
(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

A developing plan: Cabrillo — and UC Santa Cruz — tried to tap a new $2 billion state fund to build on-campus housing. While it was shut out for the first year of a three-year program, Cabrillo moves ahead with its planning for its first on-campus units. More details from me here.

The collapse of community college enrollment: Can California turn it around?

Students walk through campus at Sacramento City College on Feb. 23, 2022.
(Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters)

A concerning trend continues: Despite sinking overall enrollment, some community colleges in California are seeing more students come back. Targeted state aid is likely helping, but so is more in-person instruction. CalMatters with the deeper dive here.

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Garden-focused learning sprouts at Watsonville’s Starlight Elementary, with an Emeril connection

Starlight Elementary School Principal Jackie Medina.
(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Q&A: with Jackie Medina: Starlight Elementary School students will have access to a state-of-the-art garden and kitchen center next fall after the Pajaro Valley Unified district won a national grant to fund its innovation. We talked with Starlight Principal Jackie Medina on how it happened and what it will do. Hillary Ojeda with the conversation here.

California could see coronavirus increase this spring because of Omicron subvariant BA.2

Nicole Fahey of Altadena, who is six months pregnant, gets a COVID-19 booster shot.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The latest: Coronavirus cases are on the upswing worldwide, prompting some officials to warn that California could see increases this spring because of the Omicron subvariant BA.2, even though cases of the strain so far have been modest in the state. The LA Times with more here.

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Will the evenly divided Senate complicate Jackson’s road to Supreme Court?

The Jackson Demonstration
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Yes, and here’s how: The Democrats have a majority, but just barely. What that means for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court with hearings set to kick off Monday. More from the LA Times here.

State unveils long-awaited standard for drinking water contaminant

A water faucet in a home in California.
(Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters)

What it means: California’s proposed limit for hexavalent chromium — the first in the nation — would raise water rates in many cities. The contaminant, linked to cancer, was made infamous by Erin Brockovich. More from CalMatters here.

More from here & elsewhere

PVUSD receives $4.1M from feds for internet connectivity improvements (Pajaronian)
Watsonville ranch owner gauges public interest in proposed development (Sentinel)
UC Santa Cruz to relax mask requirement in spring (Sentinel)
Man gets life in prison for murder of NBA’s Lorenzen Wright (SF Gate)
Why the latest Oakland A’s teardown is the team’s most detestable (SF Gate)
Holocaust survivor, 96, killed in Ukraine by Russian shelling (USA Today)

That’s it for this lovely Monday evening. We will see you back here tomorrow.

Mark Conley
Deputy Managing Editor