Morning Lookout: Harbor’s heroic dredge, Food Bin redevelopment and Aptos house fire

What’s good, folks? It’s Wednesday, April 19, and sunny and 60s is the forecast around Santa Cruz County (with 70s around the corner).

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First stop is the Santa Cruz Harbor, which has something no other small-craft harbor in the United States has: its own dredge. That dredge and the crew that operates it were hard at work this winter, Max Chun reports, as sediment and debris pouring from the nearby San Lorenzo River threatened to choke the busy channel.

Max was also on duty Tuesday night to take in the first community meeting on the proposed redevelopment of the Mission Street site where the Food Bin and Herb Room now sit. Those behind the mixed-use project explained the balancing act involved, including a focus on tenants without cars.

And photographer Alison Gamel was on the scene of a blaze in Aptos on Tuesday night, passing along this update:

(Alison Gamel / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Firefighters responded to a house fire in the Heather Terrace neighborhood of Aptos just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Dispatchers were told there were three people inside the home on Poppy Way. Crews extinguished the fire before it spread to other neighboring properties; no one was injured.

(Alison Gamel / Lookout Santa Cruz)

The Wednesday rundown also features another healthy helping of Santa Cruz County food and drink news, including a new cookbook from a local fave and how to up your cocktail game, so belly up to the headlines.

Santa Cruz is the only U.S. small-craft harbor with its own dredge — and it was a savior during winter storms

(Alison Gamel / Lookout Santa Cruz)

The crew manning the Santa Cruz Harbor dredge was tasked with keeping the harbor mouth clear from excessive storm debris this winter, at which they succeeded. But the harbor, just down the coast from the San Lorenzo River, requires more consistent dredging than most other harbors in the country. Read more from Max Chun.

➤ MORE FROM THE HARBOR: ‘Disaster of a season for us’: Cancellation ripples through California salmon fishery

Food Bin and Herb Room project to prioritize tenants without cars, widen sidewalks

(Via City of Santa Cruz)

Representatives from builder Workbench and owners of the Food Bin and Herb Room hosted a community meeting Tuesday to discuss the Santa Cruz redevelopment project. Attendees raised concerns about neighborhood impacts, pedestrian safety and building size, and meeting hosts explained that it’s a balancing act between maintaining the current environment and attempting to reach state and local housing goals. Details here.

➤ PREVIOUSLY: Santa Cruz to hold public meeting on mixed-use project for site of Mission Street’s Food Bin and Herb Room

Thanks as always for reading along — fair warning, though, there will be a test at the end of the week. Brush up on past editions of Wallace Baine’s weekly news quiz, and sign up here to get Lookout’s other newsletters and breaking news alerts to keep you current with everything going on around Santa Cruz County. We’re active on social media, too — follow Lookout on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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It’s looking like a great Wednesday — get out there and make the most of it.

Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz