As the Pajaro Valley’s growing season comes to a close, many of its workers turn to a monthly food distribution event hosted by the Center for Farmworker Families to alleviate the financial burdens that come with no work for a few months.
The Trump presidency and Santa Cruz County
News and opinion coverage of reaction in Santa Cruz County to the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president, plus news from around California via Lookout’s content partners.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In an era of ICE raids, a Latino Christmas tradition proceeds with caution
San Marcos residents celebrated the holiday tradition of posadas together while navigating fear and tension caused by increased ICE enforcement.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘This is the Super Bowl’: Consultant hired by county says Trump’s offshore drilling plans will test local ordinances
Richard Charter has been here before: In the 1980s, he was hired to organize an effort to block oil drilling off the coast of California. Now, with the Trump administration wanting to open the coast for drilling, he’s been hired to fight again by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
California’s water partnerships are effective and in danger
Federal cuts imperil government and private water partnerships and hobble disaster planning, writes Letitia Grenier and Jeff Mount of the PPIC Water Policy Center. California must maintain its water expertise.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
New California law bans federal agents from wearing masks in showdown over immigration raids
The Trump administration is suing to block a new California that would ban federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks on duty. It was shaped by concerns over masked immigration agents in Los Angeles.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘We may be deporting the wrong people’: Poll shows public doubt about immigration crackdown
A poll shared exclusively with CalMatters adds to a slate of recent surveys suggesting Californians’ support is waning for President Donald Trump’s harshest immigration enforcement policies.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Republicans ask federal court to overturn California’s new Prop 50 maps
Republicans and the Trump administration are hoping a panel of federal judges in Los Angeles will halt the new Proposition 50 maps from taking effect. But given the Supreme Court’s recent ruling greenlighting Texas’ redrawn maps, their odds appear long.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The CDC’s vaccine shift isn’t science — it’s politics putting kids at risk for 2026
Federal officials’ suggestions that vaccines may cause autism are contradicted by decades of peer-reviewed studies, writes retired Santa Cruz physician Jeoffry B. Gordon, who warns that reframing settled science as “bias” undermines trust and leaves families vulnerable to preventable disease.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California schools that need foreign workers for teacher jobs can’t afford Trump’s new visa fee
The Trump administration is now requiring new H-1B visa applicants to pay $100,000. California school districts that depend on hiring foreign workers to fill teacher jobs, especially in special education and bilingual education, say they can’t afford the new fee.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Trump’s new order against AI regulation hits California especially hard
Since 2016, California has enacted more regulations on artificial intelligence than any other state. President Donald Trump’s new order against such laws worries California officials.