The Trump administration is suing California, asking the state to end its policies allowing students without legal status to access in-state tuition and financial aid. But the administration’s legal argument is weak, according to top legal experts.
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.
Encompass Community Services to stop Head Start child care program after over 40 years
Santa Cruz County nonprofit Encompass Community Services announced Tuesday that it was stopping the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, but did not rule out resuming operations in the future. The organization has run Head Start locally since 1983.
How fear of Trump’s immigration blitz is changing life in California farm towns
Tax receipts are down almost 30% in one California farm town, where immigrants are afraid to go out and some longtime workers are weighing self-deportation during the second Trump administration.
Santa Cruz County officials mobilize resistance as Trump administration opens California coast to offshore oil drilling
The Trump administration confirmed Thursday that it plans to open the California coast to oil drilling, with two possible leases along the Central Coast. Local officials tell Lookout they’re organizing to fight offshore oil extraction with lawsuits.
Up to 61,000 truck drivers in California could soon lose their licenses. Here’s why
The Trump administration is cracking down on immigrants who drive trucks in California, creating new regulations and threatening to withhold millions in federal highway funding over alleged violations by the state’s DMV. Gov. Gavin Newsom says those allegations are a lie.
Food aid resumes after shutdown, but Santa Cruz County faces bigger challenges ahead
Federal food assistance has resumed for thousands of Santa Cruz County residents after a shutdown-related disruption in early November, with local agencies scrambling to fill gaps through pop-up food pantries and expanded food bank operations.
As government shutdown ends, Santa Cruz County nonprofit scrambles to restart Head Start child care program
Encompass Community Services is scrambling to reopen Head Start, a federally funded low-income child care program, after the government shutdown and cuts to its annual budget caused the nonprofit to temporarily stop its services late last month.
Let’s learn from Gavin Newsom – it’s time to find your power and stand up to bullies
Santa Cruz therapist Lisa Herendeen believes we can all learn from the social media jabs Gavin Newsom is hurling at Donald Trump as a lesson in reclaiming power from a bully. She connects the current political dynamic to her work helping clients recognize their own power in difficult situations.
An oil company running into rough waters off the California coast is looking to Trump for help
A vote by Santa Barbara County supervisors to deny Sable Offshore permits to restart production builds on a series of lawsuits and an accusation of insider trading, but the CEO wants President Donald Trump to help it overcome its setbacks.
Second Harvest adding sites, doubling volunteer shifts as demand for food surges after pause in SNAP benefits
With a pause in food assistance benefits driving thousands of Santa Cruz County residents to seek help, Second Harvest Food Bank and its partners have doubled volunteer shifts to pack grocery boxes, plan to expand pickup locations and received more than $1 million in community support.

