During a virtual news conference Tuesday evening, leaders of SEIU Local 521 — which represents public health and social workers and public works employees, among others — said Santa Cruz County leaders had forced their hand by refusing to negotiate in good faith. County officials counter that the deal, which includes an 8% raise over three years, is fair.
Dan Evans
Follow Dan Evans on: Twitter, Instagram. With wide experience in local journalism and education, Dan joins Lookout Local with an eye toward having the publication both explain and improve life in Santa Cruz County.A native of San Diego, he attended UCSC in the 1990s before completing his undergraduate degree at Berkeley. After working at the San Francisco Examiner, he received his master’s in journalism at Columbia University.“Santa Cruz is an incredibly special place for me and I have long known the pride people have for and about their community,” he says. “I am very much looking forward to meeting people from across the County and helping to reignite local news. After all, the personalities and issues here affect residents far more directly than anything happening in Sacramento or Washington, DC.”Immediately prior to Lookout, Dan served as an associate professor of journalism at Florida International University and the Miami bureau chief of the South Florida Media Network. The bureau received a first-place Hearst Award for coverage of the FIU bridge collapse in March 2018. Known as the colloquially college Pulitzers, it marked only the second such award in the school’s history. In August 2020, SFMN received a first-place Sunshine State Award for its website.Dan served as the campus advisor for the Society of Professional Journalists, which won a national award for a program on diversity in 2018 as well as regional chapter of the year honors in 2017, 2018 and 2020. He received a citation for Excellence in Teaching in 2020.Prior to coming to FIU in 2016, Dan oversaw local coverage for numerous communities in Los Angeles County for the Los Angeles Times. The work he oversaw received nearly 100 local, state and national awards — including an EPPY from Editor & Publisher — and Dan himself was named journalist of the year by the Los Angeles chapter of SPJ in 2012.
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Kaiser Permanente has partnered with systems change agency SupplyBank.org to disperse donations of sanitizing wipes, N95…
Morning Lookout: MLK and the unhoused, tsunami surfing
As legislation surrounding single-family home zoning in Santa Cruz is constantly changing, read up on everything you…
Sunday Reads: Tsunami flooding, MLK Day events, Santa Cruz’s unhoused
Join Sempervirens Fund for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to permanently protect 153 acres of redwood forests and…
Volcanic eruption creates tsunami-related flooding in Santa Cruz
A volcanic eruption near New Zealand caused massive waves to inundate the island nation of Tonga and continue on to the West Coast. The National Weather Service issued an advisory and local officials are urging caution. The Santa Cruz Harbor area saw significant flooding and an early-morning surfing contest had to be canceled.
LOOKOUT PM: MLK Day events, COVID stats, unhoused count
In true sustainable fashion, Bay Federal Credit Union partnered with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary…
LOOKOUT PM: Mask upgrades; exhausted nurses; PVUSD working through Omicron
The State of California, specifically the Public Utilities Commission, has proposed a set of regulatory changes – NEM 3…
LOOKOUT PM: New composting laws, mending fences, Omicron and school
Join the Santa Cruz Symphony on January 15 & 16 as they celebrate the arrival of 2022 with a live show at the Santa Cruz…
LOOKOUT PM: Vaccine updates, Soquel Drive improvements
As the cost of college textbooks continue to rise, educators and students alike are looking to more contemporary modes…
Sunday Reads: Farewell to Joze; Omicron puts schools in ‘survival mode’
While the holidays can be a cheerful time for many, they can also be some of the most difficult times for others. Kaiser…

