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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.

Comparison between 2 vendors was never meant to be seen ... or made

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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 Immoor

He 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 Arellano

Keeping 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!)

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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.

Few people have the encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything to win at Jeopardy! We certainly count ourselves in that “few people” category, by the way. But Pop Culture Jeopardy!, now that’s another story. We know the answers (or should we say questions) for that one a lot. The spin-off of the iconic game show launched in December, 2024 on Prime Video. Hosted by SNL’s Colin Jost, fans loved this more lighthearted version of the show. But after one season, the show did not come back to Prime Video. But now, Pop Culture Jeopardy! is launching season two on Netflix, and you can watch the first trailer for the second season down below:

In the trailer, Colin Jost jokes about switching from one giant streaming platform to another, and cracks wise about the show’s next home being on OnlyFans. We know he jests, but we think Jost underplays how big any OnlyFans account with him in it would get. Among the categories for Pop Culture Jeopardy! are “AI Slop Will Give You Brain Rot” and one for all things Real Housewives. And for those of you with Generation Alpha children, there is an entire category devoted to “6-7.” Maybe then someone can explain to us what it actually means. Because we sure don’t know.

Netflix

Pop Culture Jeopardy! is the first version of the franchise to debut via a streaming service. The classic Alex Trebek version ruled in broadcast syndication. Season one consisted of forty episodes, but season two will contain half of that. Perhaps fewer episodes were a condition for the season two renewal over at Netflix. Hopefully, on Netflix, this iteration of the series will find a much larger audience. The second season of Pop Culture Jeopardy! drops on May 11, and runs every weekday through June 5.

The post POP CULTURE JEOPARDY! Trailer Features a Snarky Colin Jost appeared first on Nerdist.

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.

The post Fatal clocktower stabbing case suspended as suspect is deemed mentally unfit to stand trial appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Relax, the data's been recovered. Continue with your vibe coding

Jer (Jeremy) Crane, the founder of automotive SaaS platform PocketOS, spent the weekend recovering from a data extinction event caused by the company's AI coding agent in less than 10 seconds. …

A proposed apartment building on High Street would include 47 units. (Workbench)

Community meeting: Envision Peace Village

• 6 p.m. Thursday, April 30 online

Santa Cruz-based developer Workbench has requested to add more homes to an apartment building proposed at 900 High St. and approved in 2024. The Envision Peace Village housing project is behind Peace United Church of Christ, near the base of UC Santa Cruz, and is being developed by the church. 

The project as previously approved is no longer financially viable, developers wrote in a letter to the city on Jan. 23. 

The new design includes:

• 47 units, up from 40.
• Nine four- and five-bedroom “co-living units” with shared common space. The previous proposal had seven four- and five-bedroom units. 
• A five-story rectangular building, rather than a six-story V-shaped building. 
• Eight units priced below market rate, down from nine. 

See full details of the new project. For questions, email cityplan@santacruzca.gov or call 831-420-5110.

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 membership

The post Housing development behind Peace United Church grows in size appeared first on Santa Cruz Local.

First Lady Melania Trump kicked off the backlash against Jimmy Kimmel on Monday.

Donald Trump and Karoline Leavitt soon followed. 

Then came the Trump administration’s army of right-wing supporters. 

In a skit that aired last Thursday, the talk show host made fun of Trump, his family, and his supporters in a parody version of the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner, during which it’s traditional to roast the politicians in attendance.

In the bit, Kimmel took aim at the president over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Melania Trump’s physical appearance and widely-panned documentary from this past January, and Stephen Miller’s white supremacism. 

“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” the first lady posted on X in a rare public statement on Monday morning. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.” 

The president escalated his wife’s condemnation, posting on Truth Social three hours later, insinuating a connection between Kimmel’s remarks and the shooting at Saturday’s dinner and heaping pressure—for the second time since taking office—on ABC and Disney, who owns the network, to fire Kimmel. 

Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.

People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to…

— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 27, 2026

“Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking,” Donald Trump wrote. “A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner.”

At Monday’s White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt similarly tied Kimmel’s jokes to the shooting: “We as Americans must recommit ourselves to resolving our differences peacefully.”

“The deranged lies and smears against the president have led crazy people to believe crazy things, and they are inspired to commit violence because of those words,” Leavitt continued. “It is not just the media, it is the entire Democratic Party.” 

Several far-right content creators also weighed in, including MAGA influencer Benny Johnson, who wrote on X that the host had wished “death on President Trump and his supporters time and time again.” (Johnson’s claim came without evidence or reference to specific remarks of Kimmel’s, and does not appear to be tethered in fact, however remotely.)

Last year, the right pressured ABC to drop Jimmy Kimmel after the host argued that the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points from the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

But comedy is legal again, right? And free speech is good and shouldn’t be subject to federal censorship, and hate speech isn’t acceptable?

It’s time to go back to simpler days. In 2007, many nerds tuned into a fun and funny web series created by Felicia Day called The Guild. Throughout its six-season run, The Guild set out to break down some stereotypes about gamers and show the world that true friendship, cool people, and a whole lot of adventure could be found through fandom. And somehow, 20 years later, it’s time to do it all again. Felicia Day has revealed that The Guild will hopefully soon return in The Guild Movie. But to do that, The Knights of Good need you. Yes, The Guild Movie Kickstarter will arrive this summer, and hopefully, you are ready to pledge your allegiance.

GUYS ITS HAPPENING! Let's make a "Guild" movie together!!!! Sign up now at this link to be alerted when our Kickstarter is live: https://t.co/bRUCM2DDYm Excited to see the gang back together with your help! #reunion'd pic.twitter.com/ORUHH0j3w7

— Felicia Day🇺🇸 (@feliciaday) April 27, 2026

The official website for The Guild movie shares, “Help us celebrate The Guild‘s upcoming 20th anniversary by being part of our most epic quest yet. That’s right, we need your help making a full-length film that reunites Codex, Zaboo, Vork, Tink, Clara, and Bladezz for an adventure unlike anything they’ve ever faced before. And yes, that’s vague, we know. Which is why you should sign up below to receive updates about the crowdfunding campaign later this summer. Let’s get Kickstart’d!”

The Guild Movie

Listen, if there’s anyone who could bring us the best possible version of “an adventure unlike any” we’ve ever seen, it’s Felicia Day and the rest of The Guild‘s cast. We’re so excited to hear The Guild Movie will reunite all our favorites.

Day further shares:

In 2007, I created The Guild because no one in Hollywood understood what real gamers were like. I wanted to show the world that genuine friendships could form online and prove that geeks and nerds didn’t need to be clichéd punchlines, but could be main characters, too. We were able to do that for six wonderful seasons because you, the community, showed the world there was a place for it. And I’m forever grateful.

The 20th anniversary is coming up in 2027 (gasp!) and with your support, we’re gonna do it again: Prove Hollywood wrong, stay true to what you guys love and just generally laugh our butts off. I can’t wait to get the gang back together. We’ll still be SO dysfunctional, I promise!

SO SIGN UP PLEASE F-YEAH LET’S DO THIS!

oxox
Felicia

Nothing like a promise to be SO dysfunctional to get our support. There’s no official Kickstarter page for The Guild Movie yet, but you can sign up to get all the latest updates as soon as they go live. You can watch all of The Guild‘s episodes on YouTube right now.

The post THE GUILD Returns with New Movie From Felicia Day appeared first on Nerdist.

Potential buyers of Letterboxd include Versant, the parent company of CNBC and MS NOW, and Hollywood media company The Ankler, according to Semafor.

After missing its 2025 target, Boeing's MQ-25A Stingray is one step closer to a carrier deck

The US Navy’s current carrier-based refueling aircraft may soon be getting help, as Boeing has completed the first flight of its autonomous tanker drone designed for carrier operations.…

One of the most important writers in modern American comic books has left us, as we’ve learned that Gerry Conway has died at age 73. The sad news comes via Variety. Although the cause of death is unknown, the New York City-born Conway fought pancreatic cancer in recent years. Conway broke into writing mainstream comics at the young age of 16, and by his early twenties, was writing seminal runs for series like The Amazing Spider-Man, where he famously scripted the death of Peter Parker’s great love, Gwen Stacy. He’s also the co-creator of iconic characters like the Punisher, Jason Todd, and many others. He was among the first generation of comic book “fanboys” who grew up to write the characters they had loved as children.

Marvel Comics/DC Comics/Near Future Industries

In a statement following the news of Gerry Conway’s death, Marvel President Dan Buckley said, “Gerry Conway was a gifted writer. He was thoughtful, deeply attuned to the emotional and moral core of storytelling, and a wonderful and articulate advocate for comics and creators. His writing has inspired all of us at Marvel, and will continue to inspire generations of writers, readers, and fans to come.” Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige added, “Gerry Conway brought real stakes to his writing, able to weave together sensational super heroics with the human and relatable, and in doing so created some of the most memorable stories and characters of all time… Gerry was a wonderful collaborator and friend to so many and will be dearly missed.”

Marvel Comics

At the tender age of 16, Conway wrote his first short story for DC Comics’ House of Secrets #81, published in 1969. He then went on to write The Phantom Stranger when he was still only 18. He caught the attention of Marvel Comics‘ editor Roy Thomas, who hired him to write a Ka-Zar story. From there on out, Gerry Conway wrote for nearly every major Marvel publication, including Daredevil, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, the Avengers, andAmazing Adventures, which showcased Black Widow and the Inhumans. He also has a co-creator credit for the horror characters Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night. But his biggest Marvel work was easily on Spider-Man.

At age 19, Conway took over writing on The Amazing Spider-Man, not long after Stan Lee ended his epic run. During his three-year run on the series, he famously killed off Peter Parker’s longtime girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, in a touchstone story for the character. Not long after, Conway and artist Ross Andru introduced the Punisher, who would become one of Marvel’s leading characters. The seeds of the iconic “Clone Saga” were planted in Conway’s run, which introduced the villainous Jackal, along with Peter Parker’s clone, Ben Reilly. In 1976, Conway wrote the first Marvel/DC crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, which just got two sequels fifty years later. He’d return for longer Spidey runs in the ’80s and ’90s with Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man.

DC Comics

After a brief tenure as Marvel’s EIC, Gerry Conway left for DC Comics. There, he co-created Power Girl, an alternate-universe version of Supergirl, along with the hero Firestorm. He also co-created Jason Todd, the second Robin, who is now the Red Hood, along with Batman villain Killer Croc. All these characters remain DC mainstays today. In the ’80s, he wrote long runs on Wonder Woman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Action Comics, and Superman. He also famously wrote an eight-year run on Justice League of America. Conway’s run included his creation of the “Detroit JLA.” Although unpopular at the time, it featured new heroes Vixen and Vibe, both Gerry Conway co-creations. They would find new life decades later in the CW Arrowverse.

Warner Bros. Animation/Marvel

Gerry Conway also had a very prolific Hollywood career. He co-wrote the animated ’80s fantasy film Fire and Ice and Conan the Destroyer. For television, he became a regular writer on procedurals like Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Diagnosis Murder, and Matlock. In animation, he contributed scripts for G.I. Joe and Transformers. But he remained true to his comic book roots, even on television. He wrote two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and the very first episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He somehow squeezed in two sci-fi novels and a Star Trek newspaper strip into his resume as well. Gerry Conway’s legacy in entertainment spans over five decades, and his mark on comic books especially can’t be overstated. Gerry Conway is survived by his wife and two children.

The post Gerry Conway Dies, Comics Author, Punisher Co-Creator Was 73 appeared first on Nerdist.