The Trump administration has targeted grants aimed at helping fund public health workforce and disease monitoring in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. Ending these grants could result in layoffs and worse health outcomes, according to a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
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 inLatest News
Judge blocks California’s ban on federal agents wearing masks but requires badges be clearly seen
A federal judge on Monday blocked a California law from going into effect that would ban federal immigration agents from covering their faces, but they will still be required to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number.
Posted inEducation
Watsonville teacher placed on leave after making pro-ICE comment on social media
Lookout spoke with Sarai Jimenez, the teacher who in January posted a pro-ICE comment on social media, prompting a flurry of angry posts on Watsonville internet groups. Pajaro Valley Unified administrators declined to comment, but parents at the school where she taught until last month say they’re shocked and unsettled.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Supreme Court allows new California congressional districts that favor Democrats
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favorable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
UCSC students rally against ICE raids, Trump’s military attack on Venezuela
A couple hundred UC Santa Cruz students marched on campus Tuesday against violent actions by ICE and other federal agencies in Minneapolis and around the U.S. as well as against President Donald Trump’s military attack on Venezuela last month.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Child care in California was already hard to find; the immigration crackdown has made it worse
In California, almost 40% of the workforce is foreign-born and more than a million parents — immigrant and otherwise — rely on child care providers so they can go to work.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Federal cuts put Watsonville Community Hospital at risk. Partnership is the way forward.
Watsonville Community Hospital reflects the growing fragility of Santa Cruz County’s health care system, strained by rising costs, workforce shortages and declining reimbursements. Despite real progress since becoming community-owned in 2022, Stephen Gray, the hospital’s CEO, writes that new federal Medicaid cuts are projected to cost the hospital up to $10 million annually, threatening local access to care. Measure N has funded critical facility upgrades, he writes, but state law prevents those dollars from covering staffing or service losses caused by federal cuts. To protect and expand health care services, the Pajaro Valley Health Care District is now actively seeking a strategic operating partner to ensure long-term stability. He insists the hospital will work to preserve local oversight.
Posted inLatest News
‘Stand in solidarity’: Moms in Aptos, nurses at Dominican join ranks of county demonstrators
Dozens of mothers with young children marched in Aptos on Friday, while about 80 nurses and supporters rallied outside Dominican Hospital in Live Oak as part of anti-ICE protests across Santa Cruz County. Organizers and participants said they took to the streets to stand in solidarity with immigrants and denounce what they described as cruelty and fear caused by federal immigration enforcement.
Posted inLatest News
More than 1,000 students throng downtown Santa Cruz in anti-ICE protest
More than 1,000 students from local schools staged a walkout and marched through downtown Santa Cruz on Friday to protest against ICE and Trump administration policies before settling in outside the county courthouse.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Panetta, local officials and nonprofit leaders working together to protect county residents from immigration enforcement impacts
Local government officials, nonprofit leaders and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta say they are working together to protect Santa Cruz County’s most vulnerable residents from the impacts of immigration enforcement amid federal agents’ intensifying enforcement in Minnesota.