Sunday Reads: A studio for the people, UCSC’s antisemitism response, a housing squeeze & latest news quiz

The People’s Studio: Santa Cruz’s Sonivore has a novel idea — why not open up the recording studio to everybody?

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Seeing Santa Cruz County’s music scene “on the precipice of a kind of renaissance” — one powered by young people of color — Summer Red and his Sonivore Studio are helping artists break into the music business with the nonprofit Solo Tracks program. He’ll talk more about it during a free panel discussion Friday at the MAH. Wallace Baine has more in his Sunday column.

➤ MORE FROM WALLACE: How Thomas Sage Pedersen found himself at the center of a burgeoning Black renaissance in Santa Cruz

UCSC students should expect more from their administration in combating antisemitism and hate

(Via Bodie Shargel)

UC Santa Cruz is seeing a problematic rise in antisemitic acts, writes second-year music major Bodie Shargel. Shargel feels that amid a concurrent rise in antisemitism nationally, UCSC needs to do more to combat hate on campus. He feels the measures the university has in place to combat antisemitism are not working and says the administration’s response to a group of students holding a birthday party for Hitler in April was insufficient. Shargel believes Jewish students need more support and is calling for more action from the administration and for solidarity among students to “get Nazis off campus.” Read his Community Voices opinion piece here.

➤ BACKGROUND: Hitler birthday party at UCSC not investigated as a hate crime; law enforcement say incidents are a ‘very grey’ area

Housing Squeeze: Santa Cruz County’s elected leaders tell us how they’re responding to the housing crisis

The new housing development going up at Cedar Street near the Calvary Church.

Local governments across Santa Cruz County are putting the finishing touches on plans to collectively permit roughly 13,000 new housing units in the region by 2031. The state-mandated targets are set to radically transform the look and feel of the county in the years to come.

In honor of Affordable Housing Month, Lookout Santa Cruz and Housing Santa Cruz County hosted a virtual discussion Thursday evening with civic leaders from the county and each of its four cities to learn about their plans to tackle affordable housing and fulfill the California government’s ambitious homebuilding requirements.

Watch a recording of the hour-long discussion to learn about Watsonville’s plans to redevelop its downtown, Scott’s Valley’s work to bring residential units to a new town center and the county’s vision of building affordable workforce housing on public lands.

Hear from Watsonville Mayor Eduardo Montesino, Santa Cruz Councillor Sonja Brunner, Scotts Valley Mayor Jack Dilles, Capitola Mayor Margaux Keiser, and County Board of Supervisors Vice-chair Justin Cummings in a discussion moderated by Lookout’s Politics and Policy Correspondent Christopher Neely. (Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley was busy Thursday night at the city’s first public meeting for a proposed March 2024 housing bond.)

➤CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE DISCUSSION. And be sure to read Lookout on Monday for Wallace Baine’s deep dive into the aesthetics of Santa Cruz’s downtown redevelopment.

Test your newsy knowledge with this week’s Lookout news quiz

How closely do you follow Santa Cruz County goings-on? Our 10-question quiz based on stories from Lookout correspondents and contributors puts you to the test. Click here to see how you fare.

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