Lawsuits and Trump administration policy changes are targeting trans athletes, bans on outing by school staff and health care. Some California policies are in jeopardy.
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
Newsom wants $200M for EV rebates. Experts say it’s not enough to fix California’s slump
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $200 million proposal to revive the state’s electric vehicle market would reach only a fraction of buyers, raising fresh questions about who should benefit and whether limited incentives can meaningfully move a slowing market.
Posted inLatest News
Hundreds of Watsonville High students walk out of class to take stand against immigration enforcement
Hundreds of Watsonville High School students staged a walkout Tuesday afternoon in protest of immigration-related enforcement. The protest follows the arrest of a Watsonville resident and reported ICE activity in the area over the weekend.
Posted inLatest News
At least one Watsonville resident detained by ICE over the weekend, advocacy group says
Immigration officials detained a Watsonville resident Sunday morning, according to grassroots organization Your Allied Rapid Response. ICE agents were also reported knocking on doors near Watsonville High School on Sunday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Will Trump’s push to drill on California public lands be more successful this time around?
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.
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.