Watsonville City Council member and 4th District Santa Cruz County Supervisor candidate Jimmy Dutra says a civil lawsuit claiming he molested a 12-year-old when he was 30 is related to a six-year estate battle he recently finalized with his late father’s “disgruntled girlfriend.”
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 inLookout PM Archive
Lookout PM: Comparing and contrasting the 3rd District Supervisor and Santa Cruz City mayoral candidates
In many ways, the battle between Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Justin Cummings for 3rd District county supervisor is…
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Cutting through the ‘style differences’: Kalantari-Johnson, Cummings in a battle for what defines progressive
In many ways, the battle between Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Justin Cummings for 3rd District county supervisor is helping define the modern makeup of Santa Cruz’s progressiveness, and whom the voters choose will ultimately help shape the story of its future. Homelessness, affordability, public safety and more are issues that drive their campaigns — but it’s also their style and pace that differentiates them.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Dutra’s accuser opens up: Stephen Siefke explains why he is coming forth now, 17 years later
When he was 12 years old, on a trip to Southern California with family friends, Stephen Siefke says his life changed in ways he is still trying to process 17 years later with the help of weekly therapy and a supportive family. He alleged in a civil suit filed last week, and to Lookout on Monday, that 4th District supervisor candidate Jimmy Dutra, then 30, sexually assaulted him on that trip.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Organic’s big South County moment: Might school-zone pesticide switch provide momentum for change?
Longtime UC Santa Cruz researcher Joji Muramoto is the first organic soil specialist employed by the University of California system. The rich history of the area’s organic movement was largely spawned in the northern half of Santa Cruz County and inspires people like him. But the market-driven realities that prevent more South County farmers from growing organic present an ongoing challenge to sustainability and a reduction in carcinogenic pesticide use.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Pressure building on pesticides, Driscoll’s says it will consider organic-only by schools
A new advocacy group’s campaign to educate the public about the dangers of pesticides sprayed near neighborhoods with schools in Watsonville has also focused specific pressure on berry giant Driscoll’s, a multibillion-dollar company spawned in Santa Cruz County. Leaders at Driscoll’s and its main affiliated grower confirmed to Lookout that they are listening.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Imminent’ need for Narcan on campus: School safety leader says fentanyl threat is real, preparation is key
The death of a 15-year-old girl on campus at Hollywood’s Bernstein High School several weeks ago, and the prevalence of rainbow-colored versions of the drug that look like popular candies, provide the latest evidence that the fentanyl epidemic remains too close for comfort when it comes to families, children and schools. This is why Santa Cruz County safety officer Jennifer Buesing is calling on school districts to take the need for on-campus Narcan deadly seriously.
Posted inCoast Life
Only one billionaire’s legacy? Santa Cruz’s Patagonia ambassador reflects on Chouinard’s gift to Earth
Many Santa Cruzans might think of the small Patagonia outlet store on River Street as the only local vestige of the iconic outdoor lifestyle brand forged on environmental consciousness that made big headlines recently. But the company’s ethos, made loud and clear by founder and indignant billionaire Yvon Chouinard, is also carried on by people like Kyle Thiermann, a Santa Cruz kid who grew up with a different idea about what a pro surfer could be.
Posted inCoast Life
As Pleasure Point braces for change, its development issues resonate all over Santa Cruz County
With Santa Cruz County’s sustainability plan moving toward approval, one notoriously independent surf-centered neighborhood sits in the crosshairs of future change. How fast things along the Portola Drive corridor are disrupted, and how many new units of housing are involved, are among the unknowns. The issues in Pleasure Point mirror much of the housing-related controversies now happening in downtown Santa Cruz, along the city’s corridors, in Soquel, and soon, more widely across the entire county.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The ‘wounded healer’ who is helping Santa Cruz County through a time of mental health crisis
Xaloc Cabanes has survived a lot — and applied it, heading Santa Cruz County’s mental health advisory board. His “lived experience” leads the way as society deals with numerous challenges, old and new.