The Bureau of Land Management has revived its effort to open more of California’s public lands to oil extraction. But its strategy has changed little since the agency’s earlier attempt in 2019, and drillers might not be interested.
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
Santa Cruz County doubles down on opposition to federal offshore drilling plan
Santa Cruz County made its opposition to offshore drilling official, with a letter to the Interior Department and pleas to the public to get involved to stop the Trump administration’s move to drill off the coast of California.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Don’t risk our coast again: Say no to offshore drilling in Monterey Bay
OPINION: California learned the hard way that oil drilling and healthy oceans don’t mix, writes Dennis Kelso, a former UC Santa Cruz environmental studies professor who served as Alaska commissioner of environmental conservation during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Federal judges allow California to use new U.S. House map ahead of 2026 election
California can use a new voter-approved U.S. House map that is designed to boost Democrats in the 2026 midterms, a federal three-judge panel ruled Wednesday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Ana protester blinded in one eye after federal agent fired projectile from close range, relative says
Kaden Rummler, 21, was blinded in his left eye after he was shot at close range by a federal agent during a protest last week outside a federal immigration building in Santa Ana, his aunt said.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters fill Santa Cruz’s Ocean Street, remembering Renee Good
As hundreds gathered to protest the killing of Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis last week, organizers urged the public to get involved. ”Find a political home in Santa Cruz County,” one organizer told Lookout as ICE monitoring activity grows locally.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We can stop ICE terror: It’s time to organize
The Trump administration governs through fear, particularly in the way it handles immigration, writes UC Santa Cruz researcher Veronica Hamilton. The antidote to terror is organization, she writes — and the time to build it is now.
Posted inLatest News
Residents gather in Watsonville to remember life of woman killed by immigration officer in Minneapolis
About 100 people gathered in Watsonville on Thursday evening to remember Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman shot and killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California loses $160M for delaying revocation of 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants
California will lose an additional $160 million for delaying the revocations of 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants, federal transportation officials announced Wednesday.
Posted inEducation
Newsmakers 2025: County Superintendent Faris Sabbah discusses a challenging year in education
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah says local schools are navigating sweeping federal policy changes and funding cuts by reaffirming their commitment to equity and strengthening communication and support for families.
