Budgets, a vision for a one-way West Cliff Drive, a cannabis moratorium and e-bike restrictions: Political leaders at multiple levels of government in Santa Cruz County have their hands full this week.
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Posted inEducation
Enrollment decline, budget worries add urgency to consolidation talk across Santa Cruz County’s 10 school districts
The backlash over Live Oak School District’s budget cuts has renewed questions among teachers, parents and even some trustees over whether Live Oak – and other school districts like it – should be folded into neighboring districts to save money. The idea also has its critics.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Let’s get the facts right on rail-trail issues
In a letter to the editor, a Soquel resident takes issues with a previous reader letter about Santa Cruz County’s rail-trail debate.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter the editor: Live Oak Elementary’s food program deserves praise
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident sings the praises of a Live Oak School District food program.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Shapers: Nane Alejandrez has been lending a hand and changing lives for 50 years
From his Santa Cruz home base at Barrios Unidos, Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez has been working for almost 50 years to make lives better for children and families, as well as people trying to make better lives for themselves after incarceration.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Supervisors McPherson and Koenig are wildly out of step with community on rail trail; they need to listen to voters
Matt Farrell, board chair for Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail, takes a pair of county supervisors to task for voting against a staff recommendation to approve next steps for two segments of the Coastal Rail Trail. “In multiple elections and over several years,” he writes, “voters in Santa Cruz County have been crystal clear about their support for both a trail today and rail in the future.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Are West Cliff neighbors ready for the influx of traffic if 50-year ‘vision’ is approved by city council Tuesday? I don’t think so.
The Santa Cruz City Council is set to make a big decision Tuesday on whether West Cliff Drive should be a one-way street, writes Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin. But not only do too few people know about the vote, the data the councilmembers are using to get neighborhood feedback is also flawed, he says. He leans on his 26 years of experience on the Santa Cruz City Council to suggest that neighbors will not like the changes in traffic patterns and that the vote should be delayed.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley groups sue state, Monterey ag commissioner over pesticide use near schools
Several Pajaro Valley organizations, including a local teachers union and the Center for Farmworker Families, filed a lawsuit this week challenging the approval of pesticide permits that they say have caused harm to the majority-Latino communities.
Posted inFood & Drink
Eaters Digest: Babà at Emozioni Pasticceria
Lily Belli heads to Soquel Village for a classic Neapolitan treat.
Posted inFood & Drink
Best of Santa Cruz County food & drink events, April 5-11
Lookout food & drink correspondent Lily Belli highlights top events happening around Santa Cruz County in the coming week, plus more listings from Lookout’s BOLO events calendar.
