Santa Cruz’s downtown town clock finally reads the correct time after years of becoming progressively earlier. The city contracted an electrician to fix it last week.
Today’s Top Story
A significant story with interest across the county
Posted inLatest News
Ask Lookout: The San Lorenzo River water level was high in July. Is that normal?
You might have noticed the waters in the San Lorenzo River getting fairly high this summer. It’s actually not unusual and happens virtually every year. The City of Santa Cruz installed a new system last year to keep water levels below 5 feet, though engineers are still adjusting how it works.
Posted inCapitola & Soquel
After another pedestrian hit on Capitola’s Bay Avenue, residents demand faster safety fixes
After six pedestrian accidents since 2017, some Capitola residents are demanding immediate safety fixes on Bay Avenue as city officials work toward a $5 million plan to build roundabouts.
Posted inHousing & Development
Developer mulls trimming Ocean Street housing project to 300 units from 389
A subsidiary of real estate giant Trammell Crow says it is in talks with the City of Santa Cruz to possibly reduce the size of a planned Ocean Street housing project, citing cost concerns and neighborhood fit.
Posted inLatest News
Murray Street Bridge closure puts spotlight on long-standing safety concerns on Midtown’s Cayuga Street
Residents of Cayuga Street in Santa Cruz say the Murray Street Bridge closure has brought more traffic to the neighborhood, spotlighting longstanding concerns about dangerous drivers and fatal accidents on the street.
Posted inK-12 Education
As enrollment falls, some Santa Cruz County school districts see their ranks of administrators swell
Some Santa Cruz County school districts, including those facing budget cuts, have added administrators since the pandemic while losing students, with officials citing new state programs and increased social services as driving factors behind the staffing changes.
Posted inFood & Drink
Slowed by immigrant crackdown, innovative home kitchens begin to serve Santa Cruz County
A new two-year pilot program in Santa Cruz County enables cooks to run microenterprise home kitchen operations (MEHKOs), leading to a wave of small food businesses like a daily coffee cart, campus Egyptian street food, and weekly supper clubs. Although off to a slower start than expected due to funding cuts and immigration concerns, the program has already issued nine permits and aims to support 30 home-based entrepreneurs by 2026.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As Trump, Republicans toy with selling off public lands, is Santa Cruz’s own Cotoni-Coast Dairies national monument protected?
Nearly a decade after its designation, Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument is set to open next month — protected by deed restrictions even as threats to public lands loom in D.C.
Posted inLatest News
On Ocean Street, an abandoned phone booth found new life as a poetry project. Then it vanished.
Armed with poetry and disguised as workers, three Santa Cruz artists secretly converted a forgotten phone booth into a shrine for grief. No one noticed, until authorities quietly removed the unauthorized installation. The project raised questions about modern disconnection and the boundaries between public art and private infrastructure.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Santa Cruz Planned Parenthood clinic abruptly shuts down amid Medicaid cuts
Santa Cruz’s downtown Planned Parenthood clinic closed suddenly Thursday, one of five locations shuttered by the organization’s Mar Monte affiliate after a federal court ruling allowed most Medicaid cuts to the health care provider to take effect across the country.