Farmworkers, teachers, nurses, physical therapists and writers — all parents — had to scramble as the virus upended their lives. Lookout parenting columnist Liza Monroy talks with four local families — from Watsonville to Ben Lomond — about their experience with Omicron.
Coast Life
The Omicron experience: Families with young children — including mine — still face pandemic purgatories
In the first of a two-part series on parenting through Omicron, Liza Monroy writes about the jarring experience of COVID hitting her Santa Cruz household, the effects of a “lost month” on her family, and the lingering impact.
Ask Lookout: Did the Virgin Mary actually once visit a lake in Watsonville?
Thirty years ago Friday, an apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe visited Anita Mendoza Contreras at Pinto Lake, turning a sleepy county park into a pilgrimage site. The timing was impeccable, Wallace Baine writes.
‘I do belong here’: A community leader explains how the outdoors can feel like a scary, non-inclusive place
Says local United Way head Keisha Browder: “We went to Natural Bridges and then to Henry Cowell. And it was like, ‘Wow.’ So beautiful. And I’m saying, ‘I do belong here.’” She is participating Sunday in the second annual Liberation Paddle Out, part of Santa Cruz’s celebration of Juneteenth.
7 close to home RV getaways around Santa Cruz
Summer has arrived, your boss has approved your time off, and your DIY camper project is (mostly) done. The only thing dampening your excitement is the price of gas. No one wants to go broke just for some rest and relaxation. That’s why Bay Federal Credit Union, a not-for-profit cooperative with the mission of making […]
Museum takes a fond look back at Seabright’s legendary Castle Beach
A new exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History features photos and artifacts from the castle that sat near the entrance to what is now Seabright Beach until its destruction in 1967. What in 1929 was a Hollywood-inspired Moorish fantasy now can be remembered by new generations of Santa Cruzans.
MOMuments offers unique Santa Cruz twist on Kondo decluttering
Westside artist Sarah Buckius turns motherhood’s labors into art, and is encouraging Santa Cruz moms and caregivers to share their sculptures of childhood clutter as a community compendium.
Reimagining Big Basin: Following CZU fire devastation, what should the park become?
The devastating CZU Complex fire that burned 97% of Big Basin Redwoods State Park is giving way to new growth — and new plans, including tribal involvement, as the 120-year-old park comes back to life.
Reimagining Big Basin, shot and edited by Kevin Painchaud
Check out the latest info regarding Big Basin State Park

