Xaloc Cabanes has survived a lot — and applied it, heading Santa Cruz County’s mental health advisory board. His “lived…
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
‘This is gonna mess me up’: Bobby Gray knows better than most how trauma can manifest years later
When traumatic events don’t receive some level of post-processing, they linger there until the day they don’t. For the Felton Fire chief who had lost his father, slain sheriff’s officer Michael Gray, back in 1983, the events of June 6, 2020, brought Bobby Gray “full circle.” As Steven Carrillo carried out the cop-killing rampage that left Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller dead and Alex Spencer severely injured, it became a catalyst for catharsis, pain and healing.
Posted inEvents, Politics & Policy
‘Yoda on your shoulder’: Three times he was nearly murdered but a ‘cop whisperer’ brought him back
Not all brains require the post-traumatic stress gymnastics that Karen Lansing is able to put them through, but the ones that do need it desperately. Some officers — like Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputy Alex Spencer, who was ambushed by Steven Carrillo on June 6, 2020 — find themselves suddenly thrust into a position where they must confront the unknowns of what just happened deep inside their mind. It’s a strange, emotional, highly necessary trip, Spencer relates.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Post-tragedy, Santa Cruz cops are embracing a mental health culture shift, pushing PTSD understanding
Two years after Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller was murdered, the recognition of post-traumatic stress and the long-term well-being of officers has never been more widely, or seriously, discussed. Leaders at local agencies say that’s imperative to keeping enough officers among their ranks and on duty. It’s why they aren’t taking for granted the services of an internationally acclaimed “cop whisperer” right here in their midst.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Extra gut punch’ no more: Children of fallen police officers like Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller will now get financial compensation
California Senate Bill 850 updates language to guarantee financial support for children of first responders who are killed in the line of duty, even if the parents aren’t married. The son and daughter of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and Faviola Del Real, along with the children of Santa Cruz Police Detective Elizabeth Butler, who was killed in 2013, will now be eligible to receive state compensation.
Posted inCoast Life
Beyond the Benchlands: Under lawsuit threat, Santa Cruz sets plan to clear homeless camp. What happens next?
Santa Cruz began clearing the Benchlands this week, but city leaders acknowledge that this could be a slow process depending on the number of shelter beds it can provide and the willingness of those in the encampment along the San Lorenzo River to relocate.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Moving past Measure D: Santa Cruz’s light rail future will finally go beyond speculation
The rail-trail debate didn’t end up killing us, but did it make us stronger? That will probably depend on the results of a feasibility study local leadership hopes can be launched by November. Either way, having fact-based answers to these long-argued existential questions will be a good place to begin the real conversations about the rail corridor’s future.
Posted inLookout PM Archive
Lookout PM: Cal Fire enacts ‘Lightning Plan’; some Nov. election primers
The rail-trail debate didn’t end up killing us, but did it make us stronger? That will probably depend on the results of…
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Homeless vets were said to be a local success story. So why does the latest data indicate otherwise?
While support for homeless veterans has been robust at both the state and national levels, a recent survey done in conjunction with February’s one-day point-in-time count suggests that the situation in Santa Cruz County might not be as positive as local advocates believed. Was it an anomaly or is there a bigger problem to be addressed?
Posted inLatest News
Lookout PM: The spooky sight, smell of smoke & veteran homelessness at issue
Yes, the tunes at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk are automated — but carefully thought out. The rules are clear: nothing…