Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, who owns restaurants that serve drinks, has introduced several bills adding requirements for bar owners and drink servers to do more to prevent drink spiking.
Politics
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Low-impact camping is actually high risk for wildfires
Low-impact camping has potentially high-impact results, writes Bonny Doon resident Ted Benhari, who, along with a band of neighbors, last week helped convince the county board of supervisors to put a low-impact camping ordinance on hold for more study. Here, he explains why low-impact camping is potentially dangerous business.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors backs sales tax ballot measure, parking ban near Henry Cowell
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to place the question of a sales tax rate increase on the March 5 primary ballot. The proposal would increase the county’s sales tax by a half-cent to 9.5%, funds local leaders say they need to address weather-related infrastructure issues and to pay salaries that reflect the escalating cost of living. Supervisors also proposed a parking ban on Highway 9 near Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
Posted inLatest News
Sheriff’s office confirms hunger strike in Santa Cruz jail as inmates say ‘we are treated abominably’
Five inmates are on a hunger strike in the Santa Cruz Main Jail, and their complaints mirror many of the issues cited in a civil grand jury report earlier this year. A similar demonstration led to changes in the jail in May 2019, but activists say the focus should remain on funding programs and services aimed at rehabilitation.
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Watsonville / Pajaro
Pajaro Valley Health Care District board to vote Wednesday on placing $105M bond measure on March ballot
The Pajaro Valley Health Care District board will vote Wednesday on whether to ask voters to support a $105 million bond measure to help Watsonville Community Hospital buy the hospital buildings and the land they sit on and to help fund health care services. The district currently pays about $4 million a year to lease […]
Posted inLatest News
Speaker Rivas shuffles the leadership deck and YIMBYs win
Robert Rivas, whose California Assembly District 29 stretches from the southern tip of the Salinas Valley up into…
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Watsonville Community Hospital nurses to picket Monday over ‘safe staffing, patient safety, retention’
Watsonville Community Hospital nurses are holding a picket Monday to protest “deep concerns about safe staffing, patient safety, retention, and recruitment” amid what they say have been “extremely contentious” negotiations for a new contract. “We sacrificed and struggled to care for our community during the pandemic and then worked to save this hospital from bankruptcy,” […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Despite fears, election day in Shasta County comes off with little conflict
Protesters mostly stayed away from the vote count by Registrar-Recorder Cathy Darling Allen, who had vowed to follow state law and use voting machines.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘It’s a different world and a different political landscape here without Glen Schaller’
Longtime labor and voting champion and community activist Glen Schaller died unexpectedly last week, three days shy of his 67th birthday. Political figures throughout the region say the impact of his work is reflected every day in the lives of people and policies of Santa Cruz County.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Sheriff Jim Hart makes decision on District 5 county supervisor race
What Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart might do was a big unknown in the race to replace the retiring Bruce McPherson in District 5, which stretches from north of the city of Santa Cruz to the Santa Clara County line. Nonprofit CEO Monica Martinez announced Oct. 30 that Hart had endorsed her candidacy, giving her a boost in a three-person field that also includes Christopher Bradford and Theresa Bond.