As the clearing of the Benchlands draws closer, the hunt for space to accommodate the hundreds leaving Santa Cruz County’s largest homeless encampment is well underway. “Sleeping cabins” are a possible temporary option, with 40 of these shelters already on Housing Matters’ campus. That’s not nearly enough, and seeing more is unlikely until the city answers the pressing question: where?
Government
Posted inLatest News
Ranchers, tribes, state officials clash over Shasta River water
A standoff over shutting down ranchers’ pumps signals a flareup of water wars as California is gripped by seemingly endless drought. “To hell with it. We’re starting the pumps,” one Siskiyou County rancher said.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California could soon restrict the use of solitary confinement in prisons and jails
California lawmakers have passed a bill to limit solitary confinement in jails, prisons and private detention centers.
Posted inEducation
‘This is a starting point for me’: UCSC alumni react to student loan forgiveness plan
Last week, President Joe Biden announced plans for a student loan forgiveness plan that would forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt for people who make less than $125,000, and additional support for those who have received Pell Grants. The plan includes more support for students from lower-income backgrounds. Two UC Santa Cruz alumni share their reactions and how it will affect them.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
What to know about California’s November ballot propositions
California’s November election will feature seven statewide ballot measures, including on abortion rights, sports wagering and another kidney dialysis measure.
Posted inLatest News
Unsealed affidavit sheds new light on FBI case for Trump Mar-a-Lago search
A redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain a warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence shows that he was refusing to return sensitive documents.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Boogaloo Bois have guns, criminal records and military training — now they want to overthrow the government
In an investigation first published in February 2021, ProPublica and FRONTLINE uncovered more than 20 members of the decentralized militia movement known as the Boogaloo Bois with ties to the military. One, former Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, is to be sentenced Friday in the 2020 shootout that killed Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy Damon Gutzwiller.
Posted inLatest News
California set to make history by banning sales of gas-powered cars. Can it deliver?
In a nationwide first, California air quality officials are set to vote Thursday on a plan to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
Posted inLatest News
Why Californians with student loans will gain massively from forgiveness plan
The federal plan would forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.
Posted inLatest News
Steven Carrillo faces sentencing for the murder of Santa Cruz County deputy Damon Gutzwiller
Steven Carrillo, connected to the nationalist Boogaloo Bois, will hear victim impact statements in a Santa Cruz courtroom Friday then receive his sentence, which could include life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has also received a 41-year federal sentence for a related killing of a law enforcement officer in Oakland.