Santa Cruz County education leaders warn that proposed federal Medicaid cuts could disrupt critical school-based services for low-income and special education students. With schools relying on Medi-Cal reimbursements for counseling, health screenings and therapy, superintendents fear the funding rollback will force service reductions.
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Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Navigating downtown challenges, free resource for business owners and a vision for passenger rail service
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on the challenges facing businesses in downtown Santa Cruz, help for entrepreneurs and a roadmap for county passenger rail.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Support for Gaza is not extremist
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident pushes back against a previous Lookout op-ed painting her as an extremist.
Posted inFood & Drink
Lily Belli on Food: Downtown business challenges, awards news and a shellfish warning
Santa Cruz County food & drink news, notes, events, recommendations and more via Lookout correspondent Lily Belli.
Posted inLatest News
Morning Lookout: Doctors see risk in county budget cuts; Watsonville landmark’s days numbered; local’s ‘Jeopardy!’ turn
Santa Cruz County news and opinion headlines from Lookout for the morning of Tuesday, June 10.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
‘People will die’: Local doctors, clinicians say Santa Cruz County health cuts pose big risk
Santa Cruz County doctors warn closing public lab and radiology services could endanger vulnerable patients, worsening chronic conditions and increasing ER visits. Despite pleas from front-line providers, Tuesday’s budget vote could cut vital safety-net health care infrastructure with little transition planning.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Countywide rail plan banks on federal aid to fund $4.3 billion project
Santa Cruz County transit officials reviewed the details of planned zero-emission passenger rail in a virtual meeting Monday. The project, which envisions 45-minute train rides serving up to 6,000 passengers a day will be the subject of a Regional Transportation Commission meeting on Thursday.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Fate of Watsonville’s Redman-Hirahara House to be decided in August
Santa Cruz County supervisors are set to vote in August on a plan to strip historic status from Watsonville’s Redman-Hirahara House, a Victorian mansion that sheltered Japanese American families after World War II, and clear the way for developers to demolish it.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley’s tax doesn’t put community first
Santa Cruz’s proposed “Workforce Housing Affordability Act,” led by Mayor Fred Keeley, is a top-down, consultant-driven tax plan that lacks genuine community input, writes activist Hector Marin. He argues the $96 parcel tax and tiered real estate transfer tax are regressive, with unclear enforcement and little assurance they will deliver true affordable housing. The initiative, he writes, fails to meet the real needs of working families seeking homeownership and stability and the public should reject it in November.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: County CEO attempts to slow the budget bleeding
Around Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.