Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart will step down in December after 10 years on the job. Hart sat down with Lookout for a one-on-one conversation about his career, accomplishments, criticisms he’s faced and the state of law enforcement in Santa Cruz County in 2024.
opioid crisis
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Santa Cruz County warns of uptick in supply of ‘tranq’ fentanyl mix
Santa Cruz County public health officials on Thursday issued a warning about an uptick of xylazine in the area’s illegal drug supply. When combined with fentanyl, the sedative typically used on animals as a pain reliever, is known as “tranq.”
Posted inLatest News
Before Santa Cruz infant’s death from possible fentanyl exposure, friends and family expressed worry
At a court appearance Wednesday for 38-year-old Korisa Woll, friends and family who know her and her recently deceased 18-month-old daughter – called “Baby Z” in court documents – say they had worried about the child’s safety for months before her death from possible fentanyl exposure. Woll has been charged with murder in her daughter’s death.
Posted inLatest News
‘So tragic’: Santa Cruz toddler’s possible fentanyl overdose death ‘rare’ as cases spike
Police are investigating the death of an 18-month-old Santa Cruz girl as a potential fentanyl overdose. Law enforcement officials say, if confirmed, the situation is rare. Harm reduction and substance use disorder professionals agree.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Fentanyl in Santa Cruz, Part 3: Xylazine, an emerging deadly threat
As social services and medical providers struggle to deal with fentanyl overdoses, xylazine’s movement from east to west in the U.S. has spawned a new crisis in the making. “Xylazine creates all these other crazy issues like lesions and breaking down of the skin and tissue,” said EMS medical director Dr. David Ghilarducci. “It cuts off the blood supply in your skin, so the skin just dies like gangrene.”
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Fentanyl in Santa Cruz, Part 2: Fentanyl response, redoubling efforts as the crisis escalates
Santa Cruz’s record fentanyl-related death toll last year doubled the total for 2022. But are overdose deaths still worsening in 2024? We don’t know. The county’s coroner declined an interview with Lookout, and her office has not shared its latest statistics.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Fentanyl in Santa Cruz, Part 1: With fentanyl deaths doubling, Coral Street is a ‘hot spot’
Last year, the synthetic opioid fentanyl claimed the lives of 133 people in Santa Cruz County. Fentanyl-related deaths doubled from the 66 recorded in 2022 and exceeded those who died in the county from traffic crashes, suicides and homicides combined, a grim statistic Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart revealed in a Facebook post in […]
Posted inLatest News
County’s plan for millions in opioid settlement unchanged by Supreme Court decision
The $26 million expected to funnel into Santa Cruz County over the next 15-18 years from civil suits against opioid distributors and pharmacies won’t be impacted by last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that upended a multi-billion-dollar settlement with Purdue Pharma, county officials said. In a narrow 5-4 ruling that did not fall along the […]
Posted inEducation
‘Fentanyl High’: Student filmmaker explores root causes of teen drug crisis
After a schoolmate was expelled for overdosing in class, student filmmaker Kyle Santoro began exploring the roots of the opioid crisis among teens and what was causing his fellow classmates to self-medicate. His film “Fentanyl High” screens Thursday at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz and May 15 at CineLux Green Valley in Watsonville.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Much of California’s homeless population is stuck in cycles of substance use. These strategies can help
Many Californians experiencing homelessness do not have access to the kind of care they need to overcome substance use disorder, which is almost always a significant barrier to finding stable employment or securing permanent housing. Kimberly Knopik, who has faced homelessness and issues with mental health and substance abuse, writes about what she’s learned.
