In this afternoon's newscast:
Saving starving seabirds
Current warm ocean temperatures are causing problems for some marine life.
Native Animal Rescue of Santa Cruz County recently responded to an influx of sick common murres. The black and white seabirds don’t normally come to shore. But wildlife technician Amy Redfeather says the rescue has been seeing 15 to 20 starving birds a week.
"Murres are one of the species that never, ever belong on the beach," she said, "so if anyone sees one, they should call us right away."
She says they’ve likely had trouble finding food.
"We think this year it's the very warm ocean temperatures," she said. "The same thing that's causing the domoic acid problem is causing the fish to disperse to a different place."
Domoic acid, a neurotoxin from warm water algal blooms, has been poisoning marine mammals in the area. The Marine Mammal Center responds to those. Redfeather says calls about sick murres and marine mammals are slowing down now, but the super El Niño could spell more trouble ahead.
Jessie Street Terrace grand opening
Residents have settled into an affordable housing development near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It’s dedicated to veterans and people formerly unhoused.
The nonprofit MidPen Housing and local partners are celebrating the grand opening of Jessie Street Terrace, a converted hotel that’s now 50 apartments. Santa Cruz County Housing for Health Director Robert Ratner says when projects like this one go up, the number of people living on the street often goes down.
“We don't see that same change when we build new shelters," he said. "So what it says to me is, the solution is we need permanent places for people to be.”
He says the idea to more than triple the capacity of the old hotel dates back to 2014. But it took recent state funding to make it happen.
"The sooner we can get these kinds of projects up and running and find ways to streamline them, the more likely we are to make a bigger dent in homelessness," Ratner said.
Residents have access to services including case management and federal vouchers will keep their rent low.
