With the weekend nearly here, get your B9 shot in the form of Baine’s Nine, Wallace Baine’s recommendations for things to do around Santa Cruz County via Lookout’s BOLO events calendar.
Capitola & Soquel
Posted inFood & Drink
Laurie Love on Wine: High on the ’24 harvest, Equinox update, Rosscienda grand opening
In her biweekly column, Lookout wine expert Laurie Love talks to local viticulturists about how this year’s wine grape harvest is shaping up, reports on next steps for Equinox Wine after the death of owner Barry Jackson and previews a new Aptos winery.
Posted inFood & Drink
Santa Cruz Mountains harvest 2024 wraps up ‘fabulous vintage’
Unlike last year, when the growing season stretched well into November with one of the longest hang times for wine grapes in recent memory, this year the Santa Cruz region is seeing a more normal harvest in terms of timing, local viticulturists tell Laurie Love.
Posted inLatest News
Watsonville man sees drug, sex charges nearly double; incidents first reported at schools
The number of charges against Luis Alberto Salas, 35, accused of using social media to offer children drugs in exchange for sex, has jumped from 24 to 42 after the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office filed an amended complaint against the Watsonville man on Monday. According to court filings, police first started investigating the case after students reported it to local schools.
Posted inLatest News
Closing arguments begin in Theo Lengyel murder trial
Prosecutors in the murder trial of Theo Lengyel began their closing argument, aiming to paint the defendant, a former rock musician charged with killing Alice “Alyx” Herrmann of Capitola last year, as having a history of violence and aggressive behavior, specifically toward his romantic partners. They hope to convince the jury to convict Lengyel of first-degree murder, and pointed to a dramatic recording of an argument between Lengyel and Herrmann that was played during the trial that appears to capture Herrmann’s death.
Posted inHousing & Development
Lot at 41st and Soquel will get 289 units of affordable housing under new project
After sitting dormant for several years, a vacant lot on the corner of 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive has been sold to an affordable-housing developer, which plans to build a new two-tower apartment complex with 289 units. The site had once been eyed for a car dealership.
Posted inEducation
Soquel High School welding teacher wins $50,000 prize
Laurie Hilderbrand, a welding teacher from Soquel, has been named a winner of the 2024 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, which comes with $15,000 prize for her and $35,000 for her program at Soquel High.
Posted inLatest News
Stretch of southbound Highway 1 will close Monday night
Southbound Highway 1 will close at Park Avenue from 11 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, to 6 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, to accommodate work on north and southbound auxiliary lanes and bus-on-shoulder improvements between the Bay Avenue/Porter Street and State Park Drive interchanges.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Under the specter of housing growth and coastal resilience, four candidates face off for Capitola City Council
Two seats are open on the Capitola City Council this fall. Incumbent Margaux Morgan is seeking reelection, Gerry Jensen and Enrique Dolmo Jr. return to the ballot after narrow losses in 2022 and Melinda Orbach, the lone political newcomer, enters the race with a vision for the city’s west side and 41st Avenue corridor.
Posted inCapitola & Soquel
Capitola seeks ideas for strategic plan at community forum Tuesday
The City of Capitola will ask residents to weigh in on a strategic plan for the community at a public forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the Community Room at Capitola City Hall. City officials said they hope residents will “share their ideas for how they want Capitola to look and feel five years from now.” In addition to the in-person forum, the city is asking residents to complete an online survey, conducting stakeholder interviews, collecting data and asking residents to submit ideas online.
