City Prepares To Shelter Homeless By River + Win Super Bowl Tix

Hey, neighbors! Courtney Teague here with the latest edition of the Santa Cruz Daily.

First, today's weather:

A little afternoon rain. High: 59 Low: 50.

Here are the top stories today in Santa Cruz:

1. Chance To Win Super Bowl Tickets By Donating Blood Near Santa Cruz: Red Cross (Santa Cruz Patch)
2. Rain, Slick Roads In Santa Cruz Amid Christmas Travel Week (Santa Cruz Patch)
3. COVID-19 Booster Shots: Where To Find Them In Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz Patch)
4. How Santa Cruz is preparing to shelter the homeless after Benchlands floods (KION)
5. Wallace Wood Obituary (1938 - 2021) - 50 Year Resident Of Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Sentinel (Legacy.com)
6. 3 Arrested With 3 Loaded Guns Near Boardwalk: Photos (Santa Cruz Patch)
7. Santa Cruz Area Events Calendar: Check Out What's Happening This Week (Santa Cruz Patch)
8. Who's Hiring In The Santa Cruz Area? Check Out New Local Jobs (Santa Cruz Patch)

Today's Santa Cruz Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Santa Cruz!

From my notebook:

• Santa Cruz SPCA: "🎄HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS CHALLENGE🎄 On Christmas week, we introduce to you Hunter!😻 He is a big and beautiful tabby boy who starts out a bit coy but you can see his real personality written all over his face. Hunter came to us about six..." (Facebook)
• Santa Cruz City Government: "With rainfall predicted to arrive tomorrow, the City of Santa Cruz is putting into place emergency response measures to protect all residents, with a particular focus on unhoused people living along the benchlands area of the San Lorenzo..." (Facebook)

• Santa Cruz City Government: "The City and Downtown Association of Santa Cruz are now hosting the 8th annual Parking for Hope downtown holiday parking program Dec. 18 - 25! During this time proceeds from street meters are donated to Hope Services, a local nonprofit s..." (Facebook)
• City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation: "Calling all Chowder Chefs!! ⭐⭐ REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 41st Annual SANTA CRUZ CLAM CHOWDER COOK-OFF at www.cityofsantacruz.com/chowde... ⭐⭐ The City of Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk wants chefs, caterers, food service ..." (Facebook)
• UCSC Libraries: "We are only open from Monday through to Wednesday this week, so please plan ahead for that!" (Facebook)
• Santa Cruz City Government: "Did you know that the Water Department's water quality lab is EPA-certified? Our water quality team performs hundreds of tests year-round and our monitoring program exceeds the state and federal requirements for testing. Learn more about..." (Facebook)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Villa De Branciforte East: "Free boxes, many sizes from large to small. - Porch pickup today in Capitola, on 41st. Picture shows 2 of 10+" (Nextdoor)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Ocean's 11: "Package Delivered to Wrong Address - Recently I and my neighbors have had a number of packages that state they were delivered but the picture (when it’s from Amazon) shows it was delivered to a house that clearly isn’t mine or my neighbo..." (Nextdoor)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, SOMBA: "Looking for a good sour dough starter. - If anyone has some they want to share or sell. Thank You Kim" (Nextdoor)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Upper Seabright/Gault: "I’m looking for travel groups. - Are there groups around- I’m a senior-that plan trips that are as safe as possible? I’m getting antsy!" (Nextdoor)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Beach Hill: "I’m moving back to LA and have a Christmas tree that I won’t be able to use. - If anyone would like to take it PM me" (Nextdoor)
• Courtney Teague, Patch Staff: "Holiday recipes, anyone? This week I'm sharing my coconut candied yams casserole, a new take on a Christmas classic! It's easy, can be made vegan and still includes familiar flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix ingredients in a bowl,..." (Patch)

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Events:

• Winter Solstice Ceremony ~ Native Flute Meditation and Drum Journey on ZOOM (December 21)
• Brighten The First Day Of Winter With 15 Percent Off FTD’s Sunniest Blooms (December 21)
• Save 15 Percent On FTD’s Christmas Collection (December 25)
• FORESIGHT - New Year's Eve Dance Party (December 31)
• Indie Pop Star Michelle Lambert Celebrates New Year’s Eve in Monterey! (December 31)
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Alrighty, you're all good for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Courtney Teague