Good morning, everybody! Today is Tuesday, July 12, and we’re looking at another beautiful day of mild temperatures in the low- to mid-70s throughout most of Santa Cruz County. It’s Mark filling in for Will again and I have the honor of promoting my own copy today, so please excuse that in advance. If you […]
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 inCoast Life
Calm after the storm: Nat Young’s pro surfing comeback a byproduct of passion, perseverance, family
Santa Cruz surfer Nat Young is the top professional wave rider that Surf City has ever produced. But hanging onto your spot among the World Surf League’s top competitors is no small feat and Young’s tumultuous land life — watching his mom Rosie lose an extended battle with cancer — took a severe toll on his psyche. Sixteen months after her death, Young’s spirited and meditative comeback is in full swing. And this is only Chapter 1.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘I lose sleep over this’: A devout anti-abortion advocate explains life in ‘Wayne’s World’
Santa Cruz’s Wayne Shaffer doesn’t strike you as any sort of modern political activist on the front lines of the post-Roe v. Wade battlefront. He is, however, a longtime community fixture in providing services for women in need of food, shelter and assistance in bringing their babies to term. Shaffer admits this can be a hard place to convince others to agree with his religious convictions and social conservatism, but that hasn’t prevented him from trying to spread the gospel as he knows it.
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: Suit filed in Aptos High stabbing death; weekend eats ideas
Happy Friday evening, folks. Those short weeks sure do fly by, don’t they? And looky, looky … another July weekend with splendid weather appears there before us. But before we rest, let’s dig into the headlines du jour … Family of Aptos High stabbing victim files lawsuit against PVUSD, high school officials Lookout Update: Almost […]
Posted inCoast Life
Soul shaper: Why does surfboard craftsman Ward Coffey do it all by hand? It’s the only way he knows
There are no machine politics to be played out in this Westside Santa Cruz shaping bay, one of the last of its kind in this surf-mad town or, in fact, any others like it around the world. As technological progress — or disruption — has defined the modern surfboard-shaping experience, Ward Coffey’s business has managed to keep it delightfully old-school and down to earth.
Posted inLookout PM Archive
LOOKOUT PM: Seafood in sight for the 4th? About the new Venus Beachside
Happy 4th of July weekend, folks. Hope you have big plans or no plans at all. It is all good. The weather forecast is delightfully moderate which will hopefully keep any extra fire worries, that none of us need — especially our first responder friends — at bay. Please don’t be afraid to call a […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Going to bat for affordable housing: In passionate tug of war over Soquel project, supporters get loud
While vocal neighborhood opposition turned out at Cabrillo College on Monday night, so did a fervent cast of believers in affordable housing projects such as the Project Homekey development on Park Avenue on the border of Aptos, Soquel and Capitola. That project has received a $10.7 million grant from the state to add 36 units to an area that, like much of Santa Cruz County, is unaccustomed to growth.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
No final vote tally until next Tuesday as Santa Cruz sales tax hangs in the (hand-count) balance
“We’re not optimistic”: Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker says the city must begin plotting alternatives to the loss of potential Measure F funding that was expected to create up to $8 million a year in revenue.
Posted inCoast Life
When great white season meets summer beach season: The latest on ‘Shark Park’ from scientists, responders
With a shark attack in Pacific Grove last week the latest scare in Monterey Bay and Fourth of July weekend ahead, many might be nervous as they hit the beach. Lookout talked to those who monitor the area between Aptos and New Brighton State Beach known as “Shark Park” to find out the latest on what they’re seeing.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Soul-searching in Scotts Valley: Flag flap highlights ongoing community issues around diversity and inclusion
The flag controversy — possibly equating a gay pride flag with that of the NRA or KKK — simply reflected Santa Cruz’s least diverse city coming to grips with new realities. An active Facebook group, with 230 members, is pushing forward on diversity and equity while Scotts Valley leaders candidly confront their city’s issues.