The environmental impacts of Santa Cruz’s planned expansion of its downtown — a potentially generational change to the look and feel of the city — were outlined in a report published Wednesday by consultant Kimley-Horn.
Santa Cruz
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: How many people have died stuck in traffic trying to get to Dominican Hospital?
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident decries what he sees as an outdated interchange at Highway 1 and Soquel Drive.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: What is the cause of the wharf collapse?
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident writes that she hopes for clarity about the cause of the Dec. 23 collapse of the city’s wharf after conflicting statements by city officials and a marine engineer who was on the wharf that day.
Posted inLatest News
Why were three people on wharf during collapse? City officials, on-site engineer offer conflicting accounts
Official explanations have varied about why three workers were on a vulnerable stretch of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf when forecast powerful swells ripped through it on Dec. 23. Although city officials have described it as a safety inspection, a marine engineer who was out there that day offered a conflicting account.
Posted inLatest News
Santa Cruz asks community to report wharf debris
After the partial wharf collapse Dec. 23, Santa Cruz city officials are asking beachgoers to support the cleanup effort by reporting debris sightings and information.
Posted inLatest News
‘I surfed a 150-foot gun’: City worker who survived Santa Cruz Wharf collapse recounts narrow escape
When a record swell ripped through the Santa Cruz Wharf on Dec. 23, Norm Daly found himself on a collapsing deck, swept into a dramatic fight for survival. With waves crashing and a multi-ton crane teetering nearby, Daly narrowly made it out. He tells Lookout, “I’m just glad to be here.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Possibly the most intense Santa Cruz water rescue never seen – hooray for our brave lifeguards
Thomas Pickett and his wife, who recently returned from 40 years in the restaurant business on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, watched a spectacular water rescue at Mitchell’s Cove, off West Cliff Drive, just before the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed about a mile away. Two guards on jet skis saved two surfers from huge waves that he says were “whole category bigger than the 15- to 20-footers these guys had been chasing.” He recounts the drama here and applauds the heroism of our local part-time lifeguards.
Posted inLatest News
Santa Cruz Wharf to remain closed indefinitely, raising new questions about its future
Santa Cruz city officials said Tuesday that there is no estimated reopening date for the wharf, which was undergoing repairs when a section collapsed Monday, sending three workers into the ocean. The incident has forced the city to confront difficult questions about rebuilding aging infrastructure in an era of climate change, Mayor Fred Keeley said.
Posted inLatest News
Photo gallery: See images from Monday’s damaging swells
Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud captured the aftermath of Monday’s huge swells, which caused a portion of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to collapse, damaged the city’s small craft harbor and forced the evacuation of parts of Rio Del Mar and Capitola Village. View a gallery of his photos.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz and Berkeley sweetened-drink taxes — victory for health and democracy, defeat for Big Soda
Measure Z was a big win for Santa Cruz, California, public health and democracy, write James Krieger and Jennifer Falbe, researchers from the University of Washington and UC Davis who have evaluated sweetened drink taxes in the Bay Area and Seattle. By beating Big Soda – which outspent the locally funded initiative 30 to 1 – Santa Cruz has become a role model for other communities, they say. It also created a challenge to Big Soda: Will the beverage industry push to overturn a democratic election?