Senate Bill 9, signed into law last fall by Gov. Gavin Newsom, allows California homeowners and property owners to…
Grace Stetson
Grace comes to Lookout from just over the hill, originally from Sunnyvale but with a variety of journalism experience from across the country.After doing her undergrad at Seattle University, Grace earned a master’s in journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School, where she focused on housing and gentrification issues via roles with The Chicago Reader, Illinois Public Media, and WNYC.In 2018, she moved to Brooklyn, where she joined the team at Dateline NBC as a full-time program coordinator. In this position, she balanced reporting work for the show’s online Cold Case Spotlights vertical with assistant production on special episodes, and connected with the Story Development team in preparing daily briefs on news-of-the-day.Since returning to the South Bay Area in Sept. 2020, Grace has freelanced for local publications such as San Jose Spotlight, Metro Silicon Valley, and The Six Fifty. Having lived in many places across the U.S. and worked for small, mid-tier, and larger markets, Grace is excited to delve back into community journalism with Lookout Santa Cruz.“This team and endeavor is such an exciting opportunity, and an exciting vision for what the future of local news can look like,” she says. “I can’t wait to have the chance to serve this community with high-quality, in-depth journalism.”
Posted inUncategorized
The Perg is for sale: Santa Cruz’s ‘oldest coffeehouse’ on the market for $3 million
Old Dr. Miller’s place, an iconic landmark of downtown Santa Cruz, is on the market, ready for its next life — for that real estate buyer/entrepreneur with a vision.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
County’s safe syringe programs see a change as Harm Reduction Coalition loses funding
The Harm Reduction Coalition — which has officially partnered with Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency for two years — and its safe syringes and related programs didn’t receive funding for the year. Supervisors cited duplication of services with the county’s own efforts, but HRC leaders say they provide needed, additive options.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Shelter closures show new homeless response plan in midstream
Santa Cruz County-run programs at the Oceana Inn and the National Guard Armory will close their doors by the end of this month, amounting to a net loss of 252 of the county’s 638 total shelter beds. Says county Housing for Health director Robert Ratner, “We have to stop taking our money and investing it in one-time-only things; we have to corral the limited money we have invested in a strategic way.”
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
‘A Renaissance woman’: Monarch Services’ Laura Segura passes
As women’s need for support multiplied during the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura Segura and her Monarch Services team met the profound challenges of helping those driven for help with sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking. The work crowned Segura’s contributions in helping the people of her native Watsonville.
Posted inUncategorized
Lookout Update: Downtown library vote moves toward November ballot
With the validity of their petition’s signatures confirmed, critics of Santa Cruz’s mixed-use downtown library project can now plan on taking their issues with the development to the city’s voters.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Left out to dry: Sprinkler requirements the next hurdle for beleaguered CZU rebuilders
As more families in the Santa Cruz Mountains begin the rebuilding process nearly two years after losing their homes in the CZU Lightning Complex fire, another issue has become evident: a fire sprinkler requirement, and a lack of adequate water pressure for all affected families. Some say this could hinder their ability to get home more so than before: “What can I do, just move in and face possible red-tagging?”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
When is your new library ready? A Lookout guide to the emerging branches
Four redone Santa Cruz County library branches have reopened and four more will throw open their doors by the end of the year. We check in on the generational investment of $67 million county voters made in 2016.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Election 2022 results: Vote counting is slow going with still 50% left to be tabulated
Just released voting totals — with 33,569 votes now counted by the County Clerk’s office — tells us more about what is decided, and what the November ballot will look like. And there are at least two possible cliffhangers in Measure F and the 4th District Supervisor race.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘More than just paint on the ground’: Community shows support for muralists at BLM mural restitution hearing
The downtown Santa Cruz BLM mural vandalism case continues, with nearly 30 community members showing up to court Thursday to support muralist Abi Mustapha as she testified. With a restitution amount still not agreed, the case moves into summer for a possible trial date.