Happy 2024 from your friends at California Local. In this week’s edition of The Newsletter, you will find more of what you’re looking for, if what you’re looking for is reliable information about the place you call home.
This week’s News Digest, as always curated by our good friend and executive editor Sharan Street, is the most robust ever, and can be your guide to the most important stories you may have missed over the holiday.
Our Year in Review, also cat-herded by Sharan, will remind you that this was (another) nut job of a year—and that there’s some good stuff happening in California, too.
Speaking of good stuff: Chris Neklason, our good friend and fearless leader, compiled a list of the big changes that have happened here at California Local over the past 12 months. It kind of blew my mind, and I work here every day—so I’m not sure why I was surprised.
And yes! Even more good stuff. From our good friend and publisher, Mike Gelbman, some retrospection and inspiration.
• Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Sells to Local Buyers
Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing has been acquired by Adair Paterno of Sante Adairius Rustic Ales and Brad Clark of Private Press Brewing, which focuses on malt-forward and barrel-aged craft beer.
(01/02/2024) → Edible Monterey Bay
• The Midway Comes to Midtown Santa Cruz
The pandemic threw a wrench in Katherine Stern’s plans, but on Dec. 29, the chef’s long-awaited first restaurant opened on Soquel Avenue, two doors down from the Rio Theater.
(01/01/2024) → Edible Monterey Bay
• ‘It’s Very Disheartening’: Restaurants Damaged by Waves—Again
On Dec. 28, coastal storm surges damaged waterfront restaurants in Capitola and Aptos. Less than a year ago, the same businesses required lengthy repairs after similar storms caused major destruction.
(12/29/2023) → Read the full Lookout Local report
• Santa Cruz County Coastal Zones Mop Up
After absorbing a heavy one-two punch by way of mammoth waves and a high tide, local crews and community members cleaned up the mess that was left behind while preparing for an imminent round of storm activity.
(12/29/2023) → Santa Cruz Sentinel
• The Davids in Appalachia Fighting the Monterey Bay Area’s News Goliath
A feisty team of lawyers and tenants are fighting Alden Capital—the owners of two daily newspapers in the Monterey Bay region—and sometimes, they’re winning.
(12/27/2023) → Voices of Monterey Bay
• Santa Cruz Metro Lands $2M for Watsonville Hub Revamp
Santa Cruz Metro has been awarded a $2 million grant to boost affordable housing at one of its four transit centers in Santa Cruz County.
(12/27/2023) → Santa Cruz Sentinel
• Watsonville Draft Housing Element Available for Public Review
A draft of the city’s housing plans for the next eight years, which includes the construction of 2,053 new units, is available for the public to view at the Watsonville Public Library, Old City Hall and online.
(12/27/2023) → Santa Cruz Sentinel
• Monterey Bay Area’s Elusive, Inclusive Economy
The Monterey Bay region, which includes Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, is undergoing a major demographic shift with a younger generation that is more diverse, according to Chris Benner, director of the Institute for Social Transformation at UC Santa Cruz.
(12/27/2023) → Benito Link
• Sierra Snowpack at 25% of Usual Levels
The California Department of Water Resources has found that the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is at just 25% of normal levels for this time of year. This could potentially impact water supply and wildfire protection.
(01/02/2024) → Sacramento Bee
• Hospitals Seeing More People with COVID-19 and Flu
Los Angeles County has entered the medium category of COVID-19 hospitalization defined by the CDC, with providers warning that illnesses like RSV like to travel in tandem with the virus. Officials are urging the public to mask when visiting hospitals or other indoor facilities.
(01/02/2024) → Los Angeles Times
• CA Minimum Wage Hits $16 an Hour
The dawn of 2024 meant that California’s minimum wage rose from $15.50 to $16 an hour. That puts the Golden State at the second-highest minimum wage for a U.S. state, trailing only Washington state at $16.28 an hour.
(01/02/2024) → New York Times
• Law Goes Into Effect Blocking Guns in Many California Public Places
A law passed by the California legislature in 2023 has gone into effect banning licensed gun holders from bringing their firearms to places like playgrounds, churches and casinos. The law faces an ongoing challenge in the federal court system.
(01/02/2024) → Los Angeles Times
• 7 Ways to Hang On to More Money in 2024
Just as you might intend to change your diet or workout plan, resolve to make changes that will allow you to meet financial goals.
(12/27/2023) → Daily Democrat
• American Graffiti is Back: Cruising Now Legal Again in California, But So Are Speed Cameras
Under new state laws, five cities will test cameras to catch speeding drivers and cruising bans will be lifted statewide. The first is supposed to improve road safety, but critics of the second say it will endanger the public.
(12/27/2023) → CalMatters
• San Diego Zoo Displays World’s Rarest Insect
Visitors can see the critically endangered Lord How Island stick insect, on display for the first time in North America, in a special habitat at the zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.
(12/27/2023) → San Joaquin Valley Sun
Family and friends are the best part of any year.
