Santa Cruz District Attorney Jeff Rosell announced charges against two suspects in the vandalization of the Black Lives Matter mural over the weekend. Both defendants appeared in court on Wednesday morning. The judge agreed to raise bail to $15,000 each.
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 inPolitics & Policy
A community reflects beyond the BLM mural vandalism: ‘We need radical systemic change’
Santa Cruz city leaders, including city council members and the chief of police, hosted a crime briefing that became more of a town hall-style discussion about racism in the county and what can be done to combat it.
Posted inEvents, Politics & Policy
Diversity united: Official kickoff of Rise Together initiative celebrates a team approach to the equity fight
“We are the people who will build our community’s future — everyone who’s here,” Community Foundation leader Susan True told a crowd of more than 300 that had turned out for a full schedule of talks, activities, music and performances to inspire philanthropy and accomplish more as a community.
Posted inCOVID Today
When to mask up, whether to fear a shutdown: What we learned from Thursday’s chat with county health leaders
With COVID-19 cases rising in Santa Cruz County, as they are statewide and nationally, the county’s top health officials…
Posted inCoast Life
Greenway announces plans to gather signatures, put interim trail-only game plan to vote on next June’s ballot
To be considered in the June 2022 election, the committee will have to receive at minimum 12,000 signatures. But the group has been touting support in recent months from a diverse group of environment- and health-conscious community members.
Posted inCoast Life
What happens when your new affordability reporter isn’t finding anything affordable? Grace’s story
Lookout’s new affordability and equity reporter, Grace Stetson, has lived in Seattle, Chicago, Brooklyn and the Bay Area. She had never seen the Santa Cruz housing market firsthand until she had to deal with it herself — somehow she survived to tell. Even if just barely.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
From doulas to video stores, no shortage of Black-owned businesses in Santa Cruz
Graphic designer Troy Chasey set out to build community among Santa Cruz County’s Black business owners in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year, and the Black Owned Santa Cruz directory has helped do just that.