With one-time funds that are unlikely to be replenished running out for the City of Santa Cruz’s homeless services, Reggie Meisler and Jasmeen Miah advocate for a five-step solution that will stop the up-and-down funding cycle and avoid a return to criminalization as a primary policy tool. The first step, they write in a Community Voices opinion piece: Purchase 900 to 1,000 recreational vehicles and give them to unsheltered people to live in.
Civic Life
Posted inLatest News
Flooded California towns secured millions in aid. Who gets the money?
Residents of Pajaro and Planada want state aid to help alleviate debt incurred from rebuilding after January floods. Local officials want some money to go elsewhere.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
After criminals twice targeted her salons, Monisha Gowder is helping fellow entrepreneurs navigate hardship
Santa Cruz salon owner Monisha Gowder had long considered hosting mixers for fellow entrepreneurs in the community. Then criminals targeted two of her salons in a span of three weeks. The challenges Gowder faced navigating the recovery process only reinforced her resolve to create a support system for fellow female entrepreneurs who are also managing the complexities of running a small business. On Sunday, Gowder is hosting a Women in Business Mixer at her Handsome Beauty Bar in downtown Santa Cruz.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A third of Santa Cruz County households struggle to afford the cost of living, new study says
About one-third of Santa Cruz County households are struggling to afford basic expenses like housing, healthcare and childcare, according to a new United Way study. That figure rises to 58% of Latino households in the county and 45% of households with young children. Officials say more new home construction, better healthcare opportunities and increasing childcare capacity are all vital to tackling the problem.
Posted inEducation
‘Israel/Palestine Learn-In’ at UCSC seeks to inform on ongoing conflict
Amid fraught campus debate over the Israel-Hamas war, UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Jewish Studies brought together several dozen students, faculty and community members Wednesday in an attempt to answer any questions on any aspect of the conflict.
Posted inEducation
UCSC, Cabrillo confront fraught campus debate over Israel and Gaza
The Israel-Hamas conflict has triggered a reckoning for college campuses across the country — including at UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College — where tensions over free speech and academic freedom have simmered for years until boiling over in the past month, challenging students, faculty and administrators alike.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We have to do more to tighten pesticide regulation in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County holds an unwanted and embarrassing title, says organic agriculture activist Woody Rehanek: “No other county in California has such a high proportion of fumigant gases to overall pesticides applied.” In short, we continue to use far too many pesticides, he writes. And the state Department of Pesticide Regulation’s draft plan for the use of pesticides for 2024-28 falls short of what we need to protect farmworkers and ourselves.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: ‘Sense of optimism’ on tourism, movers and Shapers & mark your calendars
In her weekly roundup of news and notes from the Santa Cruz County business community, Jessica M. Pasko talks with new Visit Santa Cruz County CEO Terence Concannon about the organization’s priorities, notes a key driver of the reshaping of post-earthquake Santa Cruz and runs the numbers on local business.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Napa of pot? County supervisors temper pitch for smoking lounges, cannabis agritourism
Santa Cruz County supervisors debated a pioneering cannabis tourism proposal Tuesday that envisions farm tours and smoking lounges. However, county lawmakers said they felt the public needed to be brought in before making such substantial changes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz County’s plan to tackle homelessness is seeing results
Santa Cruz County’s three-year plan to combat homelessness is coming to an end and Carlos Palacios, the county’s administrative officer, offers an update on what the county has achieved and the work still to be done.