Measles is spreading in Texas, writes retired Santa Cruz physician Jeoffry B. Gordon, which should concern us all. We are safe in Santa Cruz County, largely because 95% of school-age children are vaccinated, he writes, but our government’s response to the outbreak is “shockingly inadequate.” He worries about misinformation about vaccines, vaccine skeptics whose views he calls “dangerous to others” and the way President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has minimized the seriousness of the outbreak.
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
‘This caught everybody off guard,’ fired Santa Cruz NOAA employee says
Jerimiah Oetting believes he was the lone Santa Cruz-based employee affected by mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week. A communications worker with NOAA Fisheries’ Santa Cruz laboratory, he and others affected by the Trump administration’s federal workforce cuts worry about the future of the agency and its ability to carry out its important work.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Will I be safe?’ Transgender California youth feel threatened by Trump’s executive orders
Calls to LGBTQ crisis lines spiked after President Donald Trump’s election. His policies target health care for young transgender people, creating uncertainty for a vulnerable community.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘A lose-lose situation’: Trump administration registry leaves Santa Cruz County’s undocumented community in a bind
The Trump administration announced last week that it will require all undocumented residents in the United States, age 14 and older, to register their fingerprints and address with the Department of Homeland Security. Local immigration lawyers say the new requirement puts undocumented residents in a tough position, whether or not they follow the law.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
First wave of NOAA layoffs raises familiar feelings in Santa Cruz County: confusion and uncertainty
As a wave of layoffs hits the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the effects on the local operations of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and National Weather Service remain largely unclear. Although most of the sanctuary staff are permanent employees, and the firings appear to cover only workers with probationary status, the Monterey Bay chapter director says the agency is expecting local cuts — which could have immediate impacts.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Todos pierden’: Nuevo registro de la administración Trump pone en aprietos a indocumentados en Santa Cruz
La administración Trump anunció la semana pasada que exigirá que todos los residentes indocumentados en Estados Unidos, mayores de 14 años, registren sus huellas dactilares y su dirección en el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional. Los abogados de inmigración locales dicen que el nuevo requisito pone a los residentes indocumentados en una posición difícil, cumplan o no la ley.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Unbeknownst to the public, Santa Cruz joins lawsuit against the Trump administration
Around Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
From funding to free speech, local non-commercial radio reckons with Trump 2.0
Two prominent non-commercial radio stations in the Monterey Bay area – KAZU and KSQD – are facing the second Trump administration with different concerns, the former with the threat of the withdrawal of federal funding, and the latter with worries about free speech.
Posted inLatest News
A California sheriff is planning to break the state’s sanctuary law. Here’s how
California passed a sanctuary state law to protect immigrants during the first Trump administration. Now, Amador County’s sheriff wants to test it at the beginning of the second.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Uncertain times as Trump layoff axe looms over local federal agencies, employees
The threat of mass firings of federal workers has a number of industries concerned about the future of their services, even if many in Santa Cruz County say they have not heard of any local layoffs.
