Tom Wright

Monterey Bay

Managing Editor at Santa Cruz Sentinel

I'm the managing editor of the @scsentinel and an #SJSU alum (he/him/his).

Articles

PG&E plans to restart its Moss Landing battery facility by June 1

4 days ago | sacbee.com | Tom Wright

MOSS LANDING - PG&E has informed Monterey County it plans on reactivating its Elkhorn Battery Storage Facility in Moss Landing by June 1 after turning it off in January in response to a fire at the nearby Vistra battery plant. In a letter addressed to Monterey County Board of Supervisors Chair Chris Lopez dated May 7, PG&E detailed the steps it has taken to improve safety measures at its battery facility in preparation to return it to service.
PG&E plans to restart its Moss Landing battery facility by June 1

4 days ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

MOSS LANDING — PG&E has informed Monterey County it plans on reactivating its Elkhorn Battery Storage Facility in Moss Landing by June 1 after turning it off in January in response to a fire at the nearby Vistra battery plant. In a letter addressed to Monterey County Board of Supervisors Chair Chris Lopez dated May 7, PG&E detailed the steps it has taken to improve safety measures at its battery facility in preparation to return it to service.
Editorial | Californians face economic headwinds

2 weeks ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

The Trump tariffs are creating unnecessary economic chaos. But, terrible as they are, Californians, and Santa Cruz County residents, are continuing to be hit with cost-of-living increases that are undermining the todays and tomorrows for too many people — younger families, seniors and anyone in between those age groups not making upwards of $250,000 a year. Doom and gloom? Last week Gov.
Editorial | Capitola City Council heeds voters on trail

3 weeks ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

"The council seemed to heed extensive public comments that they should uphold the law put in place by voters through 2018’s Measure L that requires the trail to run along the rail corridor and not divert onto city streets," writes the Editorial Board.
Medicaid cuts could upend California’s plans for improving mental health

1 month ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

California under Gov. Gavin Newsom has made sweeping changes to its behavioral health system, pouring billions of dollars into new services and support programs. But the state’s ambitious plans face a looming threat: the proposed federal spending cuts that Congress is currently considering are seen as all but certain to impact Medicaid and could bring to a halt some of the headway the state has made in responding to its behavioral health crisis.
Editorial | Confusion reigns over two competing Santa Cruz housing tax measures

1 month ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

Last week, the Sentinel Editorial Board met with representatives of the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors and then with Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley about the deepening divide over two proposed Nov. 4 affordable housing ballot measures currently in the signature gathering process. Keeley’s measure, the “Workforce Housing Affordability Act,” proposes a real estate transfer tax (levied when a property is sold) starting at 0.5%, and applied to home sales over $1.8 million.
Editorial | Trump/Musk chaos hitting home at food bank, local science, health care

1 month ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

Amid the everyday chaos coming out of Washington, D.C., the policies of the current administration are being felt locally, and the impacts, much like the Trump tariffs, are bringing uncertainty and fear. Start with health care. The budgets for Santa Cruz County and for local health providers are uncertain, at best, as the administration and DOGE consider reducing funding for Medicaid and other programs.
Editorial | A billion dollars just doesn’t go that far anymore

1 month ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

"This high-end number was put out there during a March 12 online information session held by the county Regional Transportation Commission," writes the Editorial Board. "Engineering officials used that number (actually $980 million) as an estimate that could be revised later. Replacing or rebuilding the bridges (there’s 33 along the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line) would be one of the many costs of establishing passenger rail."
Editorial | Big Tech’s AI pitch seeks license to steal

1 month ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

"Open AI and Google, having long trained their ravenous bots on the work of newsrooms like this one, now want to throw out long established copyright law by arguing, we kid you not, that the only way for the United States to defeat the Chinese Communist Party is for those tech giants to steal the content created with the sweat equity of America's human journalists," writes the Editorial Board. Subscribe to continue reading this article.
Editorial | Why schools are facing ever tougher choices on spending and staffing

2 months ago | santacruzsentinel.com | Tom Wright

Schools in our exorbitantly expensive region, and county, are seeing dropping enrollments, which, in turn, is wreaking havoc on their budgets. A report this week from our Bay Area News Group noted that regionally the enrollment drop is leading to school closures, widespread layoffs or both in an effort to plug multimillion-dollar budget holes. Total enrollment in California public schools has dropped by about 360,000 students — about 6% — in the past five years.