Hey, everyone and happy over-the-hump-we-go Wednesday evening. My friend Grace and I got the task of burying our heads deep into the topic of Santa Cruz government early this week and it’s been a fascinating and mind-blowing study for us both. Fortunately this area remains stocked with savvy political veterans following things closely from the […]
Mark Conley
Follow Mark Conley on: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Mark joins Lookout after 14 years at the Mercury News and Bay Area News Group, where he served as Deputy Sports Editor on a staff that covered three World Series, three Super Bowls, five NBA Finals, a Stanley Cup Final, six Olympic Games and three U.S. Opens over that span. He led enterprise coverage and special projects, and guided the Merc’s premium NFL and MLB magazines to five straight years of top APSE honors.Mark chaired a digital innovation committee and partook in the Table Stakes program that led to the newsroom’s establishment of a digital subscription team and a product development approach to coverage. He helped build brands around Pac-12 and high schools coverage via robust newsletters, social engagement, promotional deals and targeted audience content. Both coverage areas became top digital subscription drivers in the sports department — and the newsroom as a whole.Mark has lived in Santa Cruz County — Westside, Eastside, Midtown and now Capitola — for more than 20 years and has a passion for seeing journalism restored in the place he lives and loves.“This county is such a special place, and it’s as much about the people who choose to live here as the magical geography,” he says. “I’m looking forward to helping tell the stories of Santa Cruz County.”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A forced overhaul of Santa Cruz government: How we got into this districting ‘mess’ & what happens from here
The city of Santa Cruz has been known for its “weak mayor” system for years. Now that a major overhaul of local governance is in order come November with district-by-district representation, some suggest there has never been more of a need for strong leadership from the mayor’s seat. While a vote to create a more nuanced role for a four-year mayor in June still won’t result in what cities call a “strong mayor” system, local political veterans hope it will elicit the type of strong leader needed for the difficult road ahead.
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: How the city plans to spend $14.6 million on homelessness
Happy Tuesday evening, folks. How will the city of Santa Cruz spend $14.6 million of state funds on homelessness? That was a key topic of discussion today at Santa Cruz City Council, where a three-year plan was outlined in detail. And, as expected, the future of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line will go to […]
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: Please meet our new-and-improved COVID Dashboard
Happy Monday evening, folks. Hope you got your week off to a good start. We will start you off tonight with a look at our new-and-improved COVID Dashboard before swerving toward other inevitable world affairs. To those headlines… Introducing Lookout’s new, streamlined COVID Dashboard Only what you need: Our revised data set includes the most […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Still optimistic’: Homeless count leaders unfazed by early-morning challenges, hold out hope for a fitting metric
Despite the anecdotal difficulties experienced by groups who attempted to count the visible unsheltered homeless Monday morning, Santa Cruz County leaders say they are confident the point-in-time number will still be representative of the area’s immense problem.
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: One, big, sprawling, uncontainable art show
Since 2012, the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) has made it a point to celebrate and uplift women behind, and in front…
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: After all the sun, we’re finally due for some early March showers
Since 2012, the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) has made it a point to celebrate and uplift women behind, and in front…
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: A complicated tale of a little-known sister named Alushta
Happy Tuesday evening, everybody. As President Joe Biden gets set to address the nation and provide his thoughts on this stressful moment during his State of the Union address, Wallace Baine sheds light on a little-known Santa Cruz connection to the Eastern European nations currently at war. That and much more in tonight’s headlines… Santa […]
Posted inCoast Life
Here’s what putting a number on homelessness looked like, from Santa Cruz to Watsonville & beyond
As Santa Cruz County attempted to put a number to its homeless population for the first time since 2019 early Monday morning with the biennial “point-in-time” count, Lookout’s team of journalists embarked on ride-alongs with some of those involved with the enumeration. The number of people visible to count was surprising to many involved.
Posted inCoast Life
Unhoused Santa Cruz: A ‘proper place’ for the homeless? Push to spread the burden stirs NIMBY backlash
Neighborhoods are receiving little advance information about newly streamlined projects, as the state of California and the county of Santa Cruz move to rapidly build new housing. As Project Homekey-funded projects pop up around the county, we see pushback in Soquel, and maybe more widely. Lookout takes a closer look at the community whiplash and the likely growing pains ahead.
