Dodgers' Corey Seager scores past San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey on an RBI double by Trea Turner.

Morning Lookout: Yummy gifts, comics, Omicron and an MLB lockout

By Will McCahill

Source: Lookout Santa Cruz

Hello, hello, hello! Today is Thursday, Dec. 2, and Santa Cruz County has another mostly-sunny-and-60s kind of day ahead.

The arrival in San Francisco of the Omicron variant has been top of mind, of course, but Lookout has been plenty busy beyond that.

The city of Santa Cruz will need 3,400 more housing units by 2031, including 826 very-low-income units, Lookout’s Grace Stetson reports.
Grace also previewed a series of meetings the county is hosting to get input on building and regulating what could be a piece of the housing affordability puzzle, tiny homes.
And the 45th anniversary of Atlantis Fantasyworld gave Grace a chance to examine the community that has grown up around the stalwart downtown comic shop.
Meanwhile, Lookout’s Lily Belli delivered another delicious installment of our Keeping It Local holiday gift guide, focusing on the foodie bounty of the county.

A heaping helping of headlines awaits:

Keeping It Local: Santa Cruz has a yummy gift for every foodie in your life

Pastry chef Crescenzo Pelliccia with one of his panettone.

Traditional Italian bread, chocolate, honey, charcuterie — sweet to savory and everything in between, someone in Santa Cruz County is doing it and doing it well. Find Lily Belli’s recommendations here.

➤ GET THE FULL GUIDE: Keeping It Local: Lookout shows you how to keep your hard-earned dollars here in Santa Cruz

Connection through comics

Man in red shirt and Santa hat holding a comic book in front of a wall of comics

Atlantis Fantasyworld celebrates 45 years in Santa Cruz — and cultivating a community. Lookout’s Grace Stetson checks in on the downtown mainstay.

➤ ANOTHER LOCAL GEM: An unexpected holiday gift: Palace Arts will now remain open in Capitola under new local ownership (Lookout)

Santa Cruz eyeballs the math for housing needs ahead

Katherine Guevara and David Guevara Rosillo walk to a rental unit under construction as part of the Backyard Homes Project.

Some 3,400 more units will be required by 2031, according to new regional housing needs allocation figures. Grace looks at the numbers here.

➤ MORE ON HOUSING SHORTAGE: Some California cities aim to blunt new duplex law (Los Angeles Times)

Interested in tiny homes? Santa Cruz County wants to hear from you

County officials are holding a series of public meetings to gather input on building and regulating tiny homes. Click here to find out how you can participate.

➤ LOOKING AHEAD: SB 9 and 10 are state law — so what’s next? (Lookout)

Did a collision of COVID-19 and HIV forge the Omicron variant?

A healthcare worker in PPE takes the temperature of a person at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing facility on Dec. 10, 2020.

The Omicron variant was probably incubated in a person with poorly controlled HIV who struggled to clear a coronavirus infection. Our partners at the Los Angeles Times look at the possible connections.

➤ RELATED: What we know about the San Francisco patient with first U.S. Omicron variant case (Los Angeles Times)

MLB commences lockout as CBA expires

The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association expired without a new agreement in place, triggering the first work stoppage since 1994. The Times lays out what’s ahead.

➤ GOLDEN STATE RIVALRY: In search of a California dividing line, where Giantslandia starts and Dodgersville ends (Los Angeles Times)

Around the county ...

➤ PG&E agrees to remove wood debris left on CZU Complex fire survivors’ land (Santa Cruz Sentinel)
➤ Group preserving Filipino history in Pajaro Valley gains momentum (The Pajaronian)
➤ Capitola leaders vote to extend parklet program (KSBW-TV)
➤ Hot start to the holiday season brings welcome traffic for local businesses (KION-TV)

OK, you’re all caught up. But there’s plenty to stay tuned for on Lookout today: It’s Wallace Baine’s turn in our Keeping It Local gift guide series, and Wallace and Team BOLO will have another round of recommendations for things to do this weekend and beyond with Best Bets. So bookmark our website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and sign up to get it all in your inbox or on your phone via our Lookout Newsletter & Text Center. Tell your friends!

Another thing you can tell your friends? That they should consider becoming Lookout members. Our content isn’t possible without community support.

Now go forth, dear readers — you’ve got this!

Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz