Community Corner

🌱 Patch AM: Which Santa Cruz housing, transit, and hospital projects just got state cash?

Be sure to catch Santa Cruz Elks Lodge Fall Festival on the Santa Cruz Patch calendar

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Tuesday September 22nd Patch AM
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Hi there, Santa Cruz! We've got your morning read ready! Read on to stay connected. ☕️️

In today's newsletter:

  • Which Santa Cruz housing, transit, and hospital projects just got state cash?
  • What will Watsonville decide about its controversial Flock camera network?
  • How UC Santa Cruz divers are racing El Niño in Monterey Bay

Also on today's calendar: Santa Cruz Elks Lodge Fall Festival and 9 more events.

Today's riddle: What did one wall say to the other? 🤔 (Answer below!)

From our Partner
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Weather forecast:

  • Tuesday: Turning sunny; cool, with a high of 71 and low of 53 degrees.
  • Wednesday: Mostly sunny and delightful, temps: high: 79, low: 55.
  • Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high of 80 and low of 56 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. Senator Laird Secures State Funding for Santa Cruz County Community Projects (ca.gov) — New state funding secured by Senator John Laird will help Santa Cruz build 100% affordable housing near Highways 1 and 9, upgrade METRO's aging radio system, and expand the downtown library project. Additional allocations support Meals on Wheels countywide, Watsonville Community Hospital upgrades, the Watsonville Cultural District, and climate-focused exhibits at UC Santa Cruz's Seymour Marine Discovery Center, directly shaping services residents rely on.
   

2. Watsonville leaders to discuss Flock contract (santacruzlocal.org) — Watsonville's City Council is set to debate whether to keep or end its contract for 37 Flock license plate cameras, the largest network in Santa Cruz County. The discussion follows privacy concerns over past data sharing and comes after the Santa Cruz City Council already voted to terminate its own Flock contract.
   

3. UC Santa Cruz researchers launch real-time study on kelp resilience as a super El Niño unfolds (mavensnotebook.com) — UC Santa Cruz researchers are urgently diving Monterey Bay to track how this winter's anticipated super El Niño could stress local kelp forests that support fisheries, wildlife, and the coastal economy. The team is seeking donations to keep students in the water collecting real-time data, which could guide how California responds to future climate-driven changes offshore from Santa Cruz.
   

4. In 'Questions 27 & 28,' novelist Karen Yamashita inquires into Japanese American historical narratives (iexaminer.org) — Japanese American novelist Karen Tei Yamashita, a retired UC Santa Cruz professor, discusses how her new book Questions 27 & 28 reimagines Japanese American incarceration history through experimental narrative structures. She traces influences from her California upbringing, studies in Minnesota, and years in Brazil, while also reflecting on how museums and archives shape whose stories get preserved.
   

📸 Around Santa Cruz

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💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

  • Please help us find our beloved 17 year old girl, Zelda.
    She is very friendly. She has never been gone more than a couple of hours, and she's been missing overnight. Please check your yards, garages, cars,… (Nextdoor Westlake Neighbors)
  • Lost cat!!!
    Hello neighbors my cat has been missing since Tuesday morning! She is an indoor cat and about 5-6 months old. Her sister is sad/confused and has been… (Nextdoor Santa Cruz High School)
  • Costco Wholesale Corporation posted a job opening for Service Deli Clerk in Santa Cruz. Apply here.
  • Babki posted a job opening for Part-Time Game Tester in Santa Cruz. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Santa Cruz here.

Ok Santa Cruz! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I'll meet you at the corner! (Thank you Gary M. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!

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