Good morning Santa Cruz! Your connection to what's happening around town is here. Take a sip of coffee and read on. ☀️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: A Proper Autumn Tea and 9 more events.
Today's riddle: Why do some birds fly south for the winter? 🤔 (Answer below!)
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1. A housing boom is underway in Santa Cruz. Why is the rest of the county so far behind? (lookout.co) — Santa Cruz is permitting new housing at a pace far beyond the rest of the county, with cranes, large apartment projects, and hundreds of affordable units reshaping the city and its skyline. Reporter Kevin Norton explains how local money, public land, and staff expertise help Santa Cruz unlock state funding, why places like Watsonville and Capitola lag behind, and what a regional housing fund could mean for more balanced growth.
2. UC Santa Cruz Festival of Monsters offers deeper look into ghoulish lore (santacruzsentinel.com) — UC Santa Cruz's Festival of Monsters is bringing film screenings, author talks, comics discussions, and lots of monster-themed games to venues all over Santa Cruz from Oct. 14–17. You can catch events at The 418 Project, Game Santa Cruz, the MAH, and Atlantis Fantasyworld, many of them free or low-cost, with a focus on playful scares and deeper conversations about what monsters say about us.
3. Ghosts among us: Five of Santa Cruz County's most haunted places (lookout.co) — Santa Cruz County's ghost lore comes alive in a tour of five famously haunted spots, from Brookdale Lodge and Capitola's Rispin Mansion to Mount Madonna and Watsonville landmarks. Local investigator Maryanne Porter mixes history with eerie encounters, and offers tips on where you can safely explore, what to watch and listen for, and how to connect with Santa Cruz Ghost Hunters if strange things happen at home.
4. Climate crisis puts surfing tourism and coastal jobs at risk (dagens.com) — Surfing in Santa Cruz, a $200 million-a-year economic engine, faces growing risks as sea-level rise and coastal development threaten the precise conditions that create its famous waves. Researchers warn that hard shoreline structures could damage surf quality, urging local involvement in coastal planning so surfers, businesses, and officials can protect both the breaks and the tourism jobs they support.
5. Santa Cruz native Bill Miller, 59, to umpire his 10th League Championship Series (santacruzsentinel.com) — A Santa Cruz native is about to reach a major milestone, as Harbor High and UCLA alum Bill Miller prepares to umpire his 10th League Championship Series, putting him among baseball's most experienced postseason umpires. UC Santa Cruz women's soccer also impressed this weekend, blanking Occidental 5–0 in Los Angeles and heading next to Azusa Pacific, with coaches invited to keep sharing local scores.
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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: "Why do some birds fly south for the winter?" — Because it's too far to walk..! (Thank you Theresia F. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!
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