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Santa Cruz County business filings: Week of April 28
Businesses operating in Santa Cruz County must register with the county clerk. Lookout Santa Cruz reviews the public filings from local businesses to report on new businesses starting in the area.
Here is what’s new in local business recently.
New businesses- INERTIA COMPONENTS was registered at 1334 Brommer St., Suite B6, Santa Cruz, by Zana Fabrication LLC as a limited liability company on April 13.
- VITALITY MEDICINE was registered at 52 Tanglewood Trail, Santa Cruz, by Evelyn Skultety as an individual business on April 13.
- CHARLIS DELIVERY SERVICE was registered at 2 Loma Prieta Ave., Freedom, by Janet Munoz as an individual business on April 14.
- STALLED 2 SALES was registered at 17 Saint Francis Dr., Watsonville, by Pfv Media LLC as a limited liability company on April 14.
- WILLOWPOND WELLNESS PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES was registered at 6530 Highway 9, Felton, by Susan Jane Gulbe Walsh as an individual business on April 15.
- ED’S CONSTRUCTION SERVICES was registered at 55 Miller Rd., Royal Oaks, by Everardo Mendoza as an individual business on April 15.
- FRANKY FIREWOOD SALES was registered at 142 Hall Rd., Watsonville, by Daisy Silva-Saldana as an individual business on April 15.
- SANTA CRUZ TECH CO was registered at 228 Trescony St., Santa Cruz, by Nathan Margolis as an individual business on April 15.
- CreativeMornings Santa Cruz was registered at 165 Spaten Way, Santa Cruz, by Emily Rose Antflick as an individual business on April 16.
- BAYVIEW PET CARE PET SITTING AND DOG WALKING was registered at 250 Southwood Dr., Scotts Valley, by Jake Thull as an individual business on April 16.
- MICHELE CHILDS ENVIRONMENTAL was registered at 15065 Bear Creek Rd., Boulder Creek, by Michele Lyn Childs as an individual business on April 16.
- TOPSIDE SERVICES LLC was registered at 144 Bay St., Santa Cruz, by Topside Services LLC as a limited liability company on April 16.
- CLEANING SOLUTIONS MOPA was registered at 120 Raymond St., Santa Cruz, by Alfredo Moya Fonseca as a co-partnership on April 17.
- GARDENS OF EDEN was registered at 2071 Huntington Dr., Aptos, by Robert William Rule as an individual business on April 17.
- ADAMS SPEECH THERAPY was registered at 332 Linden St., Santa Cruz, by Laura Elliott Adams as an individual business on April 17.
- JULIO’S LANDSCAPING was registered at 1099 38th Ave., Spc #39, Santa Cruz, by Julio Hernandez Torres as an individual business on April 17.
- LOQUAT HEALTH was registered at 2955 Park Ave., Soquel, by Olivia W.r. Baker as an individual business on April 20.
- DEGRANDE MARKETPLACE was registered at 120 Gail Dr., Felton, by Donna Degrande as an individual business on April 20.
- CHRYSALIS BLOOM THERAPY was registered at 684 30th Ave., Santa Cruz, by Jessica Marie Ignacio as an individual business on April 20.
- LONE OAK REAL ESTATE was registered at 501 Soquel Ave., Suite J, Santa Cruz, by The Rezzato Group LLC as a limited liability company on April 21.
- J AND J DESIGN PRINTING was registered at 70 Mariposa Ave., Suite B, Watsonville, by Jesus Duarte Orozco as an individual business on April 21.
- RANCHO CERRITOS MHP was registered at 2121 Kralj Dr., Watsonville, by Jc Rancho LLC on April 21.
- WESTSIDE WINDOWS was registered at 10 Sunlit Lane, Santa Cruz, by Blue Echo, Inc. as a corporation on April 21.
- TRADER KIKI was registered at 16 Crescent Dr., Scotts Valley, by Kacey Lee Lewis as an individual business on April 21.
- CROSSFIT APTOS was registered at 7960 Soquel Dr., D1, Aptos, by Strong Ever After LLC as a limited liability company on April 22.
- LEM O’NADI was registered at 934 Lake Village Dr., Watsonville, by Nadia P. De La Torre as an individual business on April 22.
- 410 EXTRACTS was registered at 236 Encinal St., Santa Cruz, by SC Bloom Network Inc. as a corporation on April 22.
- SMALL TOWN COOKIE CO. was registered at 260 Villa Way, Boulder Creek, by Rebecca Wels as an individual business on April 22.
- THE CAN BUDDY was registered at 207 Spring St., Santa Cruz, by Matthew Peter Stelling as an individual business on April 22.
- HEALTHY ROOTS TREE CARE was registered at 2317 Vine Hill Rd., Santa Cruz, by Josias M. Harder as an individual business on April 22.
- WILLOW WORKS was registered at 5980 Highway 9, Felton, by Mariana Catarina Timmer as an individual business on April 22.
- OCEAN MAHJ was registered at 506 Hampstead Way, Santa Cruz, by Merilee Colle Ferdinand as an individual business on April 22.
- SANTA CRUZ PAINT CO. was registered at 3912 Portola Dr., S1, Santa Cruz, by Artt Paint Supplies LLC as a limited liability company on April 22.
- HARVEY WEST STUDIOS was registered at 119 Coral St., Santa Cruz, by 180 Supportive Housing, LLC as a limited liability company on April 22.
- JOHNNY’S ROAD DAWGS was registered at 1326 El Rancho Dr., Santa Cruz, by John Gambardella as an individual business on April 23.
- XDALLAS DESIGN was registered at 1646 Dolphin Dr., Aptos, by Dallas John Macdonald as an individual business on April 23.
- SWINGLINE TREE SERVICES was registered at 11560 Clear Creek Rd., Brookdale, by Feliciano, Jr., Gerard as an individual business on April 23.
- THE SAWMILL was registered at 15520 Highway 9, Boulder Creek, by Alex Lewis Consulting LLC as a limited liability company on April 23.
- SMARTWIRE was registered at 153 Marine Parade, Santa Cruz, by Robert Brian Hubbard as an individual business on April 24.
- METICULOUS MAID was registered at 14785 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek, by Rachael A. Danckert as an individual business on April 24.
- Pantoja’s Junk Hauling & Removal was registered at 737 Glemar St., Watsonville, by Jesus E Pantoja Flores as an individual business on April 24.
- ROOTS BOUTIQUE SALON was registered at 2920 Park Ave., Suite C, Soquel, by Kelli Butcher as an individual business on April 24.
- Taproot Massage and Wellness was registered at 412 Cedar St., Suite A, Santa Cruz, by Julie Gallant as an individual business on April 24.
- KARINA GARCIA CPR TRAINING was registered at 582 Arlene Dr., Watsonville, by Karina Garcia as an individual business on April 24.
- MACKENZIE DONALDSON HAIR was registered at 2920 Park Ave., Suite C, Soquel, by Mackenzie Donaldson as an individual business on April 24.
- MID-COAST CHARTERS was registered at 111 Rogers Ave., Watsonville, by Kavi Treesong-engel as an individual business on April 24.
- On Point Wellness was registered at 879 41st Ave., Santa Cruz, by Jordan Michael Boerner as an individual business on April 25.
- FELTON DONUTS AND PASTRIES was registered at 6259 Graham Hill Rd., Felton, by Veasna Chuop as a business operated by a married couple on April 25.
- LAND AND LEAF ADVISORY, MOUNTAIN FLOWER FARMS, PURE AQUASCAPES was registered at 110 Brookwood Dr., Santa Cruz, by Sgid, Inc. as a corporation on April 25.
Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.
MORE LOCAL COVERAGEThe post Santa Cruz County business filings: Week of April 28 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.
Boulder Creek Community has one way in and one way out
Residents living in the Bonnie Brier community have lost their main access point since the part of the road leading to the bridge washed out in February 2025.
Santa Cruz County leaders say the collapsed bridge is not their responsibility to repair.
“A year ago, on about the fourth of February, I was the last person to drive over the road and the bridge, and then the whole road collapsed, the abutments went backwards,” said Kathy Tracy, a retired special education teacher who moved to Bonnie Brier 32 years ago.
Lanktree Lane crumbled on one side of a 100-year-old bridge, cutting off some emergency services from 21 households. The only other access is across a bridge too small for full-size ambulances or firetrucks.Residents living in the Bonnie Brier community have lost their main access point since the part of the road leading to the bridge washed out in February 2025. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
BOULDER CREEK >> The tiny, tight-knit community of Bonnie Brier is tucked away in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Founded in 1905, today there are about 30 homes with some families that have lived there for generations.
The Boulder Creek neighborhood is isolated and tranquil, surrounded by trees and set back from the roads. Bear Creek flows through the neighborhood.
Like other isolated, mountain neighborhoods in the county — in Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo Valley and the Soquel hills — Bonnie Brier is accessible only by privately owned roads and bridges.
In February 2025, one of two ways in and out of the neighborhood failed after a rainstorm washed away part of the road. Lanktree Lane crumbled on one side of a 100-year-old bridge, cutting off some emergency services from 21 households. The only other access is across a bridge too small for full-size ambulances or firetrucks.
A year later, the road has not been repaired and residents are racing to track down the original owner that constructed the bridge and may still be responsible for its maintenance.
Bonnie Brier residents have invested in maintaining the bridge over the years, but the cost to repair the failed road is more than they can afford as many are low-income and seniors. The estimated cost is up to $1.5 million, according to Kathy Tracy.
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Lanktree Lane, which connects to Bonnie Brier’s bridge, is still washed out in Boulder Creek on Feb. 27, 2026. The Bonnie Brier neighborhood is made up of three subdivisions and spans across Bear Creek.
Residents have turned to the county for help to repair it, but the road is privately owned despite being publicly accessible, and the county said it’s not their responsibility.
“It’s been that way since [the roads] were created in the early 1900s and they’ve never been a part of our system,” said Matt Machado, director of the county’s community development and infrastructure department. “We don’t have any ownership.”
Their only alternative is the private Monte Vista bridge, which runs through a nearby neighborhood but has a six ton weight limit. Most ambulances weigh that much or more.
The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District has some vehicles with basic medical supplies that can cross the Monte Vista bridge, including SUVs, pick-up trucks, and a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV). These are likely the vehicles to be used in the case of an emergency where the department will have to cross Monte Vista bridge but no major firefighting equipment would be able to access those residents.
Bonnie Brier neighborhood in Boulder Creek on Feb. 10. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
“A year ago, on about the fourth of February, I was the last person to drive over the road and the bridge, and then the whole road collapsed, the abutments went backwards,” said Kathy Tracy, a retired special education teacher who moved to Bonnie Brier 32 years ago.
With the safety of their community at risk, Tracy and other residents formed an executive committee within the Bonnie Brier Improvement Association, which she said has been around since the 1950s. The five-person committee has spent nearly a year researching the history of the area and believe the bridge was originally owned by a family.
Tracy’s husband, Terry, has amassed hundreds of pages of historical documentation on Bonnie Brier. They are also working with an attorney to track down the family lineage and discover who is responsible for it today.
Until ownership is determined, the bridge will likely remain unusable, with parts of the fallen concrete road still littered at the creek’s edge.
From left, Terry and Kathy Tracy and Roberta McPherson pose for a portrait at Bonnie Brier bridge in Boulder Creek. They each have a role in the Bonnie Brier Improvement Association. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
History of Bonnie BrierJ.C. McMullen founded the Bonnie Brier subdivision in the early 1900s, according to an article from the Santa Cruz Mountain Echo published in 1916. The earliest bridge on a map was recorded in 1905, when Bonnie Brier received its name and seal. It was in 1916 that the bridge was officially acknowledged by the County as a public highway, because technically half of the bridge is on Brier Drive.
McMullen, who was President of the Oakland State Savings Bank, developed Bonnie Brier. Bonnie Brier is made up of three subdivisions. From Tracy’s research on the area, she said Bonnie Brier’s main bridge was originally a wagon bridge before it was recognized as an official bridge.
When trying to attract visitors to the area, McMullen advertised Bonnie Brier in local papers as a summer getaway for people working in Oakland and San Francisco.
At the time, Bonnie Brier was for people who “love the restful woodland county, but who shrink from the supposed horrors of ‘roughing it,’” according to The Santa Cruz Mountain Echo article. The article stated 20 plots of land had been sold to “some of the best people in Oakland and vicinity, all of whom have bought with the intention of building villa homes.”
Roberta McPherson, 79, first moved to Bonnie Brier in 1967 with her husband and their dog. She remembers hearing about the previous neighbors repairing the Bonnie Brier bridge before she moved to the community. “What’s different (today) is there’s always kind of this underneath feeling, because we know that we don’t have emergency services. The other bridge gets us across to Bear Creek Road, but it doesn’t have what we really need to be safe,” McPherson said. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
Roberta McPherson, 79, is the current Treasurer of the improvement association. When McPherson moved to Bonnie Brier with her husband in 1967, she remembers paying $10 dues to the association. As a young couple, they were drawn to the area because they wanted to live somewhere where their Alaskan Malamute would have enough space.
“Back then, most of the houses were vacation homes, and they were empty most of the year. There weren’t fences around all the yards, and the dogs went from one neighbor to the other,” McPherson said. “We would have dogs come visit us, and our dog would go and visit our neighbors.”
Some of her favorite memories include spending time with her husband in nature and raising their daughter together. There were a lot of kids growing up alongside each other at that time, she said.
“The thing that is the most special is the neighbors. I have wonderful neighbors, and I really enjoy being a part of this neighborhood,” McPherson said.
McPherson’s husband, Fred, passed away seven years ago. She now lives alone in the house they bought together. Before his death, the pair would often spend time in nature photographing native plants and wildlife.
Not having access to the Bonnie Brier Bridge hasn’t scared McPherson off, and she chooses to stay like many of her neighbors. She’s dealt with many hardships during her time in the neighborhood. In the 1970s, there was a snowstorm that was heavier than usual. Then in the 1980s there were the mudslides and the ‘89 earthquake. And in 2019 after her husband’s death, she dealt with the CZU fires.
Now, the community is faced with the impacts of their damaged bridge. She said it could be something that tears a community apart — but not this one.
“We have a really good neighborhood, good neighbors, and we have a real desire to take care of each other,” McPherson said.
The fallen bridgeThe bridge connects Lanktree Lane with Brier Drive, with most of the 65 residents on the side of the bridge that is no longer accessible. Brier Drive was shown as a public highway on original maps and land deeds from 1905. On the Lanktree side is where part of the asphalt road washed out and fell into Bear Creek, which flows beneath the bridge.
Prior to the bridge collapsing, the bridge had been through decades of slow erosion, compounded by annual rainstorms. Still, the redwood deck that wagons and eventually cars would cross is still intact. Green moss can be seen growing out of the cracks. There are still chunks of asphalt and other debris in the creek leftover from when it collapsed last year.
Chunks of asphalt and other debris lay in Bear Creek on Feb. 10. Bonnie Brier residents jumped into action the moment the bridge was damaged by a buildup of rain water from previous storms. “We call ourselves the Bonnie Brier Improvement Association. It’s all voluntary. We go out and clean the roads and maintain the roads. We’ve done all of that for years and years and years, as long as I know and longer. But bridge collapsed, we don’t have the money for that,” said Kathy Tracy, resident and member of the association.
Boulder Creek Fire Protection District Chief Mark Bingham said he was aware of the situation from the moment the bridge failed, and sent an emergency response team to the scene. His priority was to alert everyone in the area that the bridge was no longer an accessible exit.
Bingham, who’s worked for Boulder Creek Fire Protection District since 1998 and has been chief since 2020, said the district works tirelessly to keep isolated communities like Bonnie Brier safe. Boulder Creek has many hard-to-reach communities, he said, and the district has recently invested in smaller, four-wheel drive vehicles instead of traditionally large fire engines to navigate the rough terrain — and potentially small bridges.
“We’re constantly looking at what the right model is for our firefighting apparatus,” Bingham said.
Chief Mark Bingham at the Boulder Creek Fire District station on Mar. 11. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
The Bonnie Brier advocatesKathy Tracy is a woman who cares a lot. She is passionate about where she lives, and this passion has propelled her into leading the effort to protect Bonnie Brier. One example of her dedication to the community is her application to Firewise USA.
Firewise is a voluntary national program under the National Fire Protection Association, and Tracy felt that being part of it would help to make Bonnie Brier residents safer as they wait for a new bridge. Becoming a Firewise community helps neighbors organize to mitigate wildfire risk and make homes safer, in an effort to also bring down the cost of insurance.
Her house, which she lives in with her husband, Terry, is surrounded by about 50 redwood trees on their property, she said. A tall staircase leads to her front door and upon entering, where visitors are met with beautiful works of art and spilling light filling up the living room through the many windows.
Kathy and Terry are proud of the home they’ve built up together. Now in their 60’s, they have been through a lot while living in Bonnie Brier. From repairing their roof, to creating an enclosure for their rescued pet parrot, they’ve taken on many projects. They also enjoy the simple enjoyment that comes from walking their dog together.
But beyond their home projects, the Tracy’s are also leading the way on the bridge repair effort. Both Kathy and Terry have their roles in the Bonnie Brier Improvement Association. Kathy is secretary and Terry is president. The association, including McPherson and others, has worked nonstop on solutions since the bridge was lost. They’ve held monthly association meetings, met with different government agencies and worked on grant applications, and now are waiting for the lawyer to track down the potential owner.
The resounding fear Kathy hears from neighbors is the financial toll self-investing in the bridge repairs will have if they can’t secure funding elsewhere. But she said they also fear not having easy access to emergency services and relying on one way out – leaving the community in a bind.
“People are saying they’re going to have to take out second mortgages. They’re going to have to take from their retirement funds in order to help pay for this, which our community, for the most part, is going to try to do their best because we all know we need fire service,” Kathy said. “We need ambulance services here, but it’s going to take a big hit, and we might lose a lot of residents once that bridge is fixed.”
Santa Cruz Local reporter Amaya Edwards spent months reporting this story as part of an enterprise project in collaboration with her fellowship at Catchlight Local. She embedded with the residents of Bonnie Brier who have been cut off from their main access bridge for more than a year. Her goal was to capture why they call such an isolated neighborhood their home and what makes it so special to them. There are dozens of similarly isolated areas around Santa Cruz County that are equally vulnerable to being cut off like Bonnie Brier. Amaya will continue to cover these communities and highlight solutions as these situations become increasingly commonplace due to a myriad of reasons, including climate change and dilapidated infrastructures.
Questions or comments? Email info@santacruzlocal.org. Santa Cruz Local is supported by members, major donors, sponsors and grants for the general support of our newsroom. Our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Learn more about Santa Cruz Local and how we are funded.
Learn about membership Santa Cruz Local’s news is free. We believe that high-quality local news is crucial to democracy. We depend on locals like you to make a meaningful contribution so everyone can access our news. Learn about membershipThe post Boulder Creek Community has one way in and one way out appeared first on Santa Cruz Local.
Tuesday morning traffic: Westbound SR-152 lane closed for paving until July 3
This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 7:30 a.m..
Here’s what’s happening on the roads this morning…
▼︎ new incidents
Road incidents as of 7:30 a.m. on April 28- A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville and Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure will last until July 3 at 5:59 a.m.
Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.
The post Tuesday morning traffic: Westbound SR-152 lane closed for paving until July 3 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.
In Santa Cruz, cafés evolve into all-day dining spots as coffee culture shifts
Santa Cruz coffeehouses are expanding into full-service dining, adding chef-driven, all-day menus as high-quality coffee becomes standard and less of a differentiator. While some cafés embrace the shift to stand out and draw customers, others stick with simpler offerings, reflecting a split in how the industry is evolving.
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Two brothers, one actor: Charles Pasternak shines in Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘Vincent’
Santa Cruz Shakespeare turns to the letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo in “Vincent,” exploring the legendary artist’s life marked by passion, struggle and vision. It is an intimate, solo-actor production anchored by a commanding performance from Charles Pasternak, Jana Marcus writes in her latest theater review, asking us to reconsider not just the artist, but how we choose to see artists at all.
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Gen Z, don’t let it scare the crap out of you. Get a colonoscopy.
Gen Z is facing a rise in colorectal cancer, yet many young people with symptoms delay screening out of fear or embarrassment. UC Santa Cruz literature and psychology student Kathleen Whilden wants to end the embarrassment and writes that yes, getting a colonoscopy is uncomfortable, but it’s far less frightening than a late diagnosis. She knows. She has had several colonoscopies and lived to tell about them – she even has some souvenirs. She pushes her peers to lose their fear of potty jokes and get tested.
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‘A betrayal:’ California to share data on immigrant drivers nationally
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.
California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver’s license-holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the U.S.
That breaks a promise the state made a decade ago when it began issuing licenses to unauthorized immigrants, advocates say, and it means more than 1 million people could face higher risk of deportation.
But if state officials don’t turn over the data, the Department of Homeland Security could refuse to accept California licenses and IDs at airports, the advocates believe, following a briefing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. State authorities confirmed they plan to share the data to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which set requirements for accepting state identification in federal facilities like airports.
Representatives from four advocacy groups who participated in the briefing told CalMatters the shared information will show whether a person has a Social Security number, meaning it could be used to identify people in the country without authorization.
The state plans to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country.
The information given to the association will go into the group’s State-to-State Verification system and its platform, known as SPEXS, which allows DMVs and contractors that work with them to verify if someone has more than one license issued in their name. Sharing that data allows agencies that issue driver’s licenses to verify that a person doesn’t have duplicate licenses in multiple states.
In the future, an ID database like the one the association maintains could be used to support mobile licenses people can use on their iPhones or online age verification for access to mature content or chatbots.
But advocates fear that federal immigration officials will try to gain bulk access to the data and use the fact that a person doesn’t have a Social Security number as a signal that they’re deportable.
The state received assurances from the association that safeguards will be added to prevent bulk searches for unauthorized immigrant license holders in the database and to prevent access by the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to people who joined the briefing with the DMV and governor’s office. But they remain skeptical.
To carry out the plan to share data with the association the California Legislature will need to approve $55 million to cover the DMV’s costs. It might also need to amend existing law, which states that a Social Security number obtained by the DMV cannot be shared for any other purpose than to address unpaid taxes, parking tickets or child support.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to confirm details of the call or respond to specific concerns from advocates.
“California continues to lead in supporting immigrant families and protecting personal data from federal overreach,” the spokesperson, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, wrote in an email. “The state has taken the same approach to protect Californians’ data during the Real ID implementation, while maintaining Real ID compliance for the benefit of all Californians.”
Ian Grossman, the chief executive of the DMV administrator association, told CalMatters that participation in the verification system is voluntary and that only authorized state employees or contractors have access to the system, that bulk searches of the system are not currently allowed, and all searches must contain specific information about an individual like their name and date of birth.
Social Security number ‘99999’For more than a decade, California and 18 other states invited undocumented people to obtain drivers licenses in order to support public safety and the economy. Economists say that such laws improve economic activity, drive billions of dollars in taxes into state coffers, and benefit public safety because people who lack federal authorization to be in the country can feel more comfortable reporting criminal activity.
More than 1 million people have obtained drivers licenses in California under Assembly Bill 60, a law passed in 2013. The law prohibits the state from using information obtained in the licensure process to consider an individual’s citizenship.
But the multistate verification system can reveal whether a person is an undocumented immigrant. According to an association manual obtained by CalMatters, the database will include the last five digits of a person’s Social Security number, and if that person has no Social Security number, the association allows states to use the placeholder “99999.”
Advocates fear that federal immigration officials could gain access to information in the database, including on undocumented Californians, by asking local officials to make requests on their behalf.
That sort of end run would not be without precedent.
CalMatters reported on instances last year and this year where local law enforcement agencies broke state law and shared information gathered by automated license plate readers with ICE or Border Patrol agents.
The DMV and the governor’s office say the association will notify California of requests from any entity other than a participating state, including attempts to subpoena the database for information about California license holders, providing them with the opportunity to challenge subpoenas or intervene in other requests. But if a subpoena is accompanied by a gag order the association could not deliver any such notification. An agreement between the association and the California DMV obtained by CalMatters states that the association will inform California “if legally permitted” if it receives a subpoena “to release, disclose, discuss, or obtain access to S2S information.”
Hasbrouck believes the DMV and governor’s office “must have known” the reassurances they got from the association were “hollow given the possibility of gag orders.”
He also said that, as a private entity, the association has less protection from court orders or subpoenas than a government agency. Its data sharing is also more easily hidden, since the association is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests or open meeting laws.
Advocates see ‘a direct betrayal’Advocates who spoke with CalMatters said sharing the driver’s license information with the association sells out immigrant license holders. The law that created the program prohibits the state from using information the program gathers to determine citizenship.
“It’s unclear how extreme the danger people are being put into by this decision but there ’s no doubt we told people with AB 60 licenses this would never happen, but it’s happening, and that’s a direct betrayal,” said Tracy Rosenberg, head of advocacy at Oakland Privacy, who was on the call.
Linda Nguy, an associate director at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, compared the disclosure to a move last summer by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy to share data about millions of non-citizens with federal immigration agencies. That was a violation of federal law, department officials concluded, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
Pedro Rios, director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program at the American Friends Service Committee, was not on the call, but echoed Rosenberg and Nguy, calling the data sharing plan “a betrayal of California’s commitment to protect and defend all its residents, especially those who have an AB 60 drivers license.”
Becca Cramer-Mowder, who was on the call representing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, questioned why the governor’s office and DMV are in a rush to comply with the Real ID Act two decades after it passed at a time of increased pressure from the Trump administration.
“It just seems like we’re missing the bigger picture of this moment in time,” she said
The plan to share license information with the database depends on the state budget process because the DMV is requesting $55 million to move the data over to the association’s systems.
At a state Senate budget hearing last month to approve the funding, lawmakers questioned why the state should follow a timeline set by a private organization and share part of Californians’ Social Security numbers. They also asked the DMV to explore the reasoning behind a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma lawmakers in January to block data sharing with the association, in which they argued that sharing personal data collected for driver’s licenses violates state law there.
DMV director Steve Gordon told them that California unsuccessfully tried to convince the motor vehicle association to consider a unique identifier other than a Social Security number and “anybody who has a Social Security number that’s sharing information of course would have a concern” but told lawmakers “we need to go. We need to go now.”
DMV spokesperson Jaime Garza said that Californians can submit a request to surrender or cancel a driver’s license but that driving without a license is illegal.
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, told CalMatters that lawmakers continue to work on the policy issue.
“Protecting immigrant communities from the Trump administration’s relentless attacks — and ensuring Californians are empowered and defended — continues to be a top priority for the Speaker,” he said in an email.
Rosenberg with Oakland Privacy suggested that the state might be better off opting out of the Real ID system than sharing information about its license holders, noting that more than 60% of Californians already have passports.
“I just wonder what would happen if the state asked Californians to get a passport in order to fly for a couple of years in order to protect 1 million Californians with AB 60 licenses. Maybe we should give people that opportunity.”
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Kids Day returns to downtown Santa Cruz this Saturday
Downtown Santa Cruz is hosting its annual Kids Day this Saturday, May 2, from noon to 4 p.m. on Cooper Street and on Pacific Avenue between Locust and Church streets.
The streets will be transformed into a car-free zone filled with free hands-on activities and live entertainment for kids of all ages.
This is the first year that Kids Day is expanding onto Pacific Avenue, creating an additional indoor activity hub in the storefront that was once occupied by Palace Art & Office Supply.
Presented in partnership with Abbott Square and Growing Up In Santa Cruz, the event features activity booths hosted by local organizations, along with performances and demonstrations by Be Natural Music, All About Theatre, International Academy of Dance, Santa Cruz Museum of Discovery, Jewel Box Band and Kirby School.
Downtown businesses including Fusion Fare, Ibiza, Go Ask Alice, Lively Kids, Pacific Wave, The Salty Otter Sports Grill, Palmetto Superfoods, Botanic & Luxe, Mission Hill Coffee & Creamery, Stripe the Store, Artisans & agency, 3D Entrepreneurs Club, Woodstock’s Pizza, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar, Comicopolis, Super Silver and Mythic Games. Many of the businesses are offering in-store specials for the event.
For more information, visit the Downtown Association website.
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Who wants to be California’s insurance commissioner? Your guide to the candidates
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.
Picking the next insurance commissioner could be one of the most important decisions Californians make for their wallets this election year.
They may have seen a big increase in their insurance premiums in the past couple of years. They might know someone whose homeowners policy got canceled. Or perhaps they’re trying to rebuild after last year’s deadly Los Angeles County fires.
ELECTION 2026: Read more local, state and national coverage here from Lookout and our content partners
If you’re not sure what the insurance commissioner does, here’s a rundown:
- Regulates the nation’s largest property and casualty insurance market, which includes policies for homeowners, businesses, landlords, renters and drivers.
- Leads the Insurance Department, which reviews and approves premium rate increases.
- Regulates life, health and workers’ compensation insurance.
Whoever is elected to succeed Commissioner Ricardo Lara will have a long to-do list. For the past few years, insurance companies have paused writing homeowner policies or reduced their presence in California. That’s starting to change because of industry-friendly regulations Lara put in place, but premiums are still rising and the market cannot be described as healthy yet.
The L.A.-area fires last year highlighted other problems, such as homeowners dealing with insurers delaying or denying claims, discovering they were underinsured, or finding out there are no standards for smoke-damage claims. Frustrated fire survivors called for Lara to step down.
In a recent poll commissioned by the Insurance Fairness Project, a national insurance information hub, 62% of likely voters said they are very concerned about the cost of home insurance and 43% said they are not confident at all that California’s insurance system can withstand future extreme weather disasters.
Former insurance commissioner John Garamendi, who held the position two separate times and is now a U.S. congressmember, calls the commissioner job the second-hardest in the state behind the governor. Another former commissioner, Dave Jones, said the next commissioner needs to keep a closer eye on insurance companies and regularly examine their conduct, creating “clear enforcement triggers.” He worked on a blueprint with recommendations galore for Lara’s successor.
About a dozen candidates are officially vying for the position, though not all of them have active campaigns. The two who receive the most votes in June’s primary will move on to the November ballot.
CalMatters interviewed the five candidates who have raised the most money for their campaigns.
All of them are calling for more transparency and accountability from insurance companies within the law that governs insurance in the state, Proposition 103. They want to help reduce fire risk at the individual and community level. Most of them agree California should try to hold the fossil-fuel industry accountable for climate risks that are helping drive up insurance costs.
They want to reduce Californians’ dependence on the FAIR Plan, the insurer that’s mandated to sell fire insurance to those who can’t buy it from individual insurance companies. At the end of 2025, the plan had nearly 650,000 noncommercial dwelling policies, up from about 264,000 in 2022.
Here is how each candidate, in alphabetical order, plans to tackle the challenges.
Ben Allen State Sen. Ben Allen. Credit: California State Senate via CalMattersLast year’s massive fires in the L.A. area hit the senator’s district. Along with other insurance-related bills, Allen has introduced legislation that would give the commissioner more power to hold insurance companies accountable. After hearing from his constituents about the department’s handling of their problems after the fires, he wants to boost the number of staff handling consumer complaints and create a consumer advocate position in the insurance department, he told CalMatters.
Allen, a Democrat, would take a more comprehensive approach to risk reduction, including by creating funding sources such as state-backed loans for hardening homes, and by bringing together insurers, builders, local governments, firefighters and the state to work on solutions. As part of reducing risk, he wants to restrict new construction in high-risk zones, saying developers who are building in such areas are “basically freeloading off the rest of us.” He also wants to “carefully and sensitively” find a way to incentivize those already living in risky areas to move elsewhere.
The senator — a lawyer who will be termed out of the Legislature, where he has worked on environmental issues — said his eyes are wide open about how tough the job would be, but believes he has and can create the relationships needed, including with an incoming governor, to address the issues. On the role of intervenors, members of the public who can challenge insurers’ rate reviews, he indicated he needed to look into it further and that they shouldn’t be slowing down rate reviews — adopting a refrain by the current commissioner, who is seeking to reduce intervenors’ power.
He has received the most endorsements from the who’s-who of state politics, including Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, both U.S. senators from California, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, and more than two dozen state lawmakers. Jones, the former commissioner, also endorsed him.
Steven Bradford Steven Bradford. Credit: California State Senate Archive via CalMattersThe former Southern California senator and assemblymember would establish a public-private partnership that would share risk with insurers to keep them in the state. What that would look like needs more exploration, Bradford told CalMatters.
The Democrat, a former executive at the utility company Southern California Edison, would invite insurance companies “to the table” when discussing land use and planning, and support a voluntary buyout program to encourage people to move away from high-risk areas.
He said funding could come from expanding an existing program in the insurance department called the California Organized Investment Network, which is backed by the insurance industry and invests in underserved communities, environmentally friendly and affordable housing projects, and more. Insurers’ investments in the program have grown from tens of millions of dollars to more than $1 billion in 2023, according to the commissioner’s annual report in 2024.
Bradford would push insurers for clear explanations when they raise rates, saying it won’t be easy but that because the state’s insurance market is so big, it “would behoove them to do what they can to be partners with California.”
He is endorsed by U.S. Reps. Adam Gray and Luz Rivas, state Treasurer Fiona Ma and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, plus Teamsters California, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and other labor groups.
Merritt Farren Merritt Farren. Credit: Merritt Farren for California Insurance Commissioner 2026The Pacific Palisades home of the former Amazon and Disney executive was destroyed in last year’s fires. He became an intervenor and pushed for more information on State Farm’s request to raise its rates as a result of the fires, which led to his campaign for commissioner.
Farren, a Republican, would create CAL Reinsure so the state could provide a backstop for insurers. The entity would be funded by a fee charged by insurers and would eliminate the need for the FAIR Plan because companies would be more inclined to write policies, he told CalMatters. The authority could issue bonds that could be sold in the commercial market, and would be backed by the state, like municipal bonds.
He would want to “revamp” regulations that get in the way of allowing new insurance products in the market, saying that he wishes insurers had a premium product that charged customers more but would “pay out immediately on loss without putting them through the drama and trauma they have to go through today.”
Farren said he sees the commissioner’s job as one of consumer advocacy, and invoked his days at Amazon, where he says the motto was to be the most customer-centric company in the world. “You can be a consumer advocate and still appreciate the fact that there will be no insurance for consumers without insurance companies,” he said.
Jane Kim Jane Kim. Credit: Jane Kim for Insurance CommissionerThe lawyer, consumer advocate and former San Francisco supervisor told CalMatters that the commissioner’s office has been “under-leveraged” and has the levers to protect people from the powerful insurance industry.
Kim, a Democrat and head of the California Working Families Party, has three main proposals around more government involvement, the main one to create “natural disaster insurance for all.” It would be funded by a portion of policyholder premiums that insurance companies would pass along to the state. The state would manage the fund, which would guarantee fire and flood coverage. Insurance companies would continue to provide coverage for other risks. It’s not her idea — New Zealand has the same system, and it allows the country to invest the premiums in preventive measures, she said. Establishing such a system in California could allow the state to invest profit from premiums that would have gone to insurers’ shareholders in its communities instead, she said.
She would establish a public option for auto insurance by expanding eligibility for an existing program that provides low-cost insurance to drivers who make less than $38,000 a year.
Kim also wants to provide Medicare for kids. She believes California should centralize all insurance authority within the insurance department instead of having managed health care handled by the Managed Health Care Department.
She acknowledges that her biggest ideas are for the long term and will require her to win over naysayers.
“I’ve heard it — ‘She doesn’t know anything,’ ” Kim said. “We’re all so tired of seeing candidates that don’t have political courage.”
Kim is endorsed by some big names, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — she was California political director for his presidential campaign in 2020 — Ro Khanna, the Silicon Valley congressmember, and unions such as SEIU California, the California Teachers Association and the UFCW Western States Council.
Patrick Wolff Patrick Wolff. Credit: Patrick Wolff for Insurance CommissionerThe financial analyst, a Democrat who lives in San Francisco and has never held public office, obtained an insurance license ahead of his run for commissioner. Wolff told CalMatters that he has invested his own money in his campaign — $600,000, according to campaign finance records — and simply wants to help fix the problems he sees in the insurance market. “It would be the honor of my lifetime if I can do this job and really do this job well,” he said.
Wolff would create a report card that would grade how insurers handle claims based on existing market conduct annual surveys of insurance companies, which is now anonymized but which he would push to be identifiable. He said that would let the insurance department help customers decide which insurers to reward or punish for their behavior.
He would consider allowing auto insurers to use telematics, which companies use in other states to track driver behavior for underwriting purposes. He said it could help for more accurate underwriting and possibly even lower auto insurance premiums, but acknowledged privacy concerns around the technology and said insurance companies should be prohibited from sharing or selling driver information.
Wolff would roll out a dashboard that would disclose complaints about providers of life insurance. The insurance department is not making that data public, and he doesn’t see why not, he said.
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Letter to the editor: Let’s not support war – say no to Panetta reelection
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident traces what she sees as Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s hawkish history and urges fellow voters not to reelect him.
The post Letter to the editor: Let’s not support war – say no to Panetta reelection appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.
Letter to the editor: Who really saved Watsonville Community Hospital?
In a letter to the editor, a community member touts the record of Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez.
The post Letter to the editor: Who really saved Watsonville Community Hospital? appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.
Queer Youth Leadership Awards approaching
The Queer Youth Leadership Awards (QYLA) has, in the decades since its inception, honored young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ+) whose advocacy and activism have made notable impacts in their communities.
That work comes at a time when, across the United States, roughly 525 bills are moving through legislative processes that would in some way affect the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
The proposed laws would, among other things, prohibit certain curriculum, affect which restrooms people can use, limit which sports teams they can play on and restrict what topics can be taught in K-8 classrooms.
While such debates have occurred nationwide for decades, the prejudice that drives them has a real and lasting impact on young people who identify as LGBTQ+.
These youth face a significantly higher risk of suicide than their peers, with studies showing they are more than four times as likely to attempt it. National estimates indicate that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ people ages 13 to 24 seriously consider suicide each year in the United States, and at least one attempt occurs roughly every 45 seconds, according to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for young people.
That need for broader acceptance and understanding is at the heart of the QYLA.
Created by the Queer Youth Task Force, the annual ceremony also aims to foster understanding and acceptance in the community.
This year’s event is scheduled for 5:30pm on Saturday, May 9, at Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville. qyla.org for information.
Some of the honorees
Ash Immoor
QYLA nominee Ash Immoor, 17, is a student at Watsonville-based El Nido High School and a student trustee on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education, where he has emerged as an advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion and student voice.
Ash ImmoorHe successfully pushed to expand the county’s “United Against Hate” resolution to explicitly include bullying, a change adopted unanimously, and has urged board members to use more inclusive language, particularly for students with disabilities.
He has also conducted outreach to alternative education campuses, bringing student concerns directly to county leaders.
Immoor, who identifies as a trans male, said a rise in anti-trans legislation and rhetoric nationwide has made it more difficult — and at times unsafe — for LGBTQ+ youth to exist openly. He pointed to policies targeting gender-affirming care and restrictions such as bathroom bills as contributing to stigma and increased risk.
He said he struggled growing up without the language to describe his identity and that access to gender-affirming care significantly improved his mental health while helping his family better understand and support him.
“I thought, ‘Wait — I don’t have to be a girl,’” Immoor said. “And then I started learning about all that stuff. And I did a lot of inner learning.”
A trans youth representative, Immoor has also spoken publicly about the importance of gender-affirming care, from medical access to respecting pronouns, including as a panelist in community discussions.
He emphasized the need for stronger protections in schools, where he said bullying of trans students remains a serious issue.
“Everyone is deserving of kindness,” he said. “It’s really important that we use our voices right now to speak up for our community and ensure we have a safe future.”
Immoor plans to pursue a career in the medical field and is currently training in Cabrillo College’s EMT program with the goal of becoming a pediatric nurse.
Aaliyah Arellano
Watsonville High School student Aaliyah Arellano said she grew up around boys, playing sports such as baseball, football and basketball. She currently plays basketball and is captain of her school’s flag football team.
Arellano said she also eschewed “girl clothes” in favor of more comfortable clothing similar to what her male peers wore.
Aaliyah ArellanoKeeping LGBTQ+ issues at the forefront of public discussion is vital, she said.
“…because later on in life, it’s a big part of finding out who you are,” she said. “And I feel like sometimes people want to turn away from all of that because they think their parents might be disappointed. But I think it’s just really important to find yourself first.”
That realization came in middle school, she said.
“I knew who I wanted to be, and I stuck with it,” she said.
She first told her mother, who already suspected she was gay, and later her more traditional father, who eventually accepted her.
“At the end of the day, he and his family all accepted me for who I was,” she said.
Arellano, who QYLA organizers say serves as a queer advocate among her peers, said events such as the QYLA are important, particularly in the current political climate.
“I think it is because there are people who have a hard time coming out,” she said. “Events like this help them feel more comfortable with themselves. There’s always going to be people who support you, and people who do not. But it’s best to believe in yourself and what you want in your life.”
Jennifer Gill
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts teacher Jennifer Gill serves as an adviser for the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which meets twice weekly during lunch.
“It’s just magical,” she said of the QYLA ceremony. “It’s so important because it’s one of the only times these students are included in an event that’s totally focused on honoring the LGBTQ community.”
The event is for adults, youth from elementary through high school, and their parents.
“It’s one of those moments where they light up — they can be themselves,” Gill said. “To have such an elegant event that’s just for them is inspiring, and I think it really touches their hearts.”
For information, including purchasing tickets, visit bit.ly/4tCrnlv
•••
There are three awards:
- Queer Youth Leadership Award
- Ally to Queer Youth Award
- Organizational Ally to Queer Youth Award
(For each award, there are nominees and awardees)
2026 Queer Youth Leadership — Awardees
Ash R. Immoor
He / him / his
Student, El Nido School
Everest Vasquez
Student, Harbor High School
Jasper Albrecht
They / them / their & he / him / his
Student, Cypress High School
Nayela Soledad Reynoso
He / him / his & they / them / their
Student, Anzar High School
2026 Queer Youth Leadership — Nominees
Aaliyah A. Arellano
She / her / hers
Student, Watsonville High School
Bryce Grossman
They / them / their
Student, Santa Cruz High School
Destyni Huggins
She / her / hers & they / them / their
Student, Branciforte Middle School
Farley Blackmun
He / him / his
Student, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School
Katherine “Kate” Figueroa
They / them / their
Student, Pajaro Valley High School
Mark, Adel Mendoza Luengas
any pronouns
Student, Pajaro Valley High School
Mireya “MJ” Reynoso
They / them / their
Student, Anzar High School
Petra King
She / her / hers & they / them / their
Student, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School
Wren Harmon
She / her / hers
Student, Santa Cruz High School
Yudit “Alex” Ramos
She / her / hers
Student, New School
Zoe McMahon
Any / all pronouns
Student, Branciforte Middle School
2026 Ally to Queer Youth — Awardee
Andrea Damon
She / her / hers
Associate Director, TransFamilies of Santa Cruz County
2026 Ally to Queer Youth — Nominees
Christina Souza
they/them
Counselor, Aptos High School
Conor O’Brien
He / him / his
Advisor, Santa Cruz High School Rainbow Alliance
Eli Davies
They / them / their
Advisor, PRISM Club
Dr. Faris Sabbah
He / him / his
Superintendent, Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Jennifer Gill
She / her / hers
Advisor, Watsonville Charter School of the Arts (WCSA) Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)
Kellee Matsushita-Tseng
They / them / their & she / her / hers
Farm & Land Stewardship Manager, Food, What?!
Veronica Vasquez Gudiño
She / her / hers
Student, San Jose State University
2026 Organizational Ally to Queer Youth — Awardee
Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH)
2026 Organizational Ally to Queer Youth — Nominees
Cabrillo College Rainbow Council
Lakeview Middle School Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA)
Rainbow Defense Coalition of Santa Cruz County & the Pajaro Valley
Renegade Theater Co.
Youth Empowerment & Action for Health (YEAH!)
Pitch-In Santa Cruz returns May 9 with countywide cleanup effort
Organizers are calling on residents across Santa Cruz County to “pitch in” May 9 for a coordinated cleanup stretching from Davenport to Watsonville.
The third annual Pitch-In Santa Cruz event aims to build on last year’s turnout of about 750 volunteers, with dozens of cleanup sites planned countywide, according to organizer Sally-Christine Rodgers.
“The goal is to make Santa Cruz the cleanest county in the state,” she said.
Volunteers are expected to fan out across the North Coast, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Watsonville and Corralitos, tackling litter in neighborhoods, parks and waterways. Residents can sign up for a location and time at pitchinsantacruz.org or simply show up at a listed site, organizers said.
For Rodgers, the effort is rooted in a simple message: reducing litter is a shared responsibility.
“Because I love where we live,” she said. “There is no reason for any of us to litter. We want to change the behavior of littering. It’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for human health, and it’s bad for our community.”
This year’s event coincides with Mother’s Day weekend, a tie-in organizers are leaning into with the tagline: “Make your mother proud and do something good for Mother Nature.”
A central gathering in Watsonville will be held in partnership with the city’s Second Saturday celebration, with activities anchored around the Watsonville Youth Center. The event will include a scavenger hunt-style cleanup where participants collect trash and visit participating downtown businesses before returning to the youth center.
Organizers describe the Watsonville event as family-friendly, with music and activities designed to draw residents downtown while contributing to the cleanup.
Pitch-In Santa Cruz is supported by a broad coalition of public agencies, schools and nonprofits, including Cabrillo College, UC Santa Cruz, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, Watsonville Wetlands Watch, Save Our Shores and the Coastal Watershed Council.
The effort also includes partnerships with the Farm Bureau, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, service clubs and local chambers of commerce.
Organizers say the event is part of a larger push to maintain Santa Cruz County’s designation as a “Clean California” community.
While past events have tracked metrics such as the volume of trash collected, Christine said the broader goal is building a lasting community habit.
“This is about something everyone can do,” she said. “We can all stop littering or pick up litter when you see it.”
Cleanup times vary by location, with many starting around 9am, and the Watsonville event beginning later in the morning. Most shifts run about two hours.
More information, including site locations and signup details, is available at the county-hosted Pitch-In Santa Cruz website.
Fatal clocktower stabbing case suspended as suspect is deemed mentally unfit to stand trial
Criminal proceedings against Robert David Worel, the man charged in last month’s fatal stabbing at the clocktower plaza in downtown Santa Cruz, were suspended Monday after a judge ruled that Worel is mentally incompetent to stand trial.
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