More than a month after the Dec. 12 bus crash on the UC Santa Cruz campus, family members and coworkers of Dan Stevenson, who died Dec. 29 from injuries sustained in the crash, remembered him as a caring person who loved a good laugh and said they are still reeling from the accident.
Westside / Downtown
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz mayor receives verbal apology from teen who made anonymous death threat following cease-fire vote
Fallout from the Santa Cruz City Council’s decision Jan. 10 to reject a cease-fire resolution escalated to an anonymous death threat made against Mayor Fred Keeley, one police said they found credible. This week, the maker of the threat was identified.
Posted inEducation
Court dismisses professor’s free speech lawsuit against UCSC over DEI statement
A federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit against UC Santa Cruz senior officials on Friday over the school’s requirement that candidates for academic positions submit a diversity statement with their applications. The judge ruled that John D. Haltigan hadn’t proved that he had standing. Haltigan alleged the school’s policy violated his free speech rights.
Posted inFood & Drink
Dolphin Restaurant, damaged in December storm surge, awaits its fate on Santa Cruz Wharf
A storm surge at the end of December damaged several pilings on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf directly under the Dolphin, a 63-year-old diner. The City of Santa Cruz, which owns the building and the wharf, hasn’t yet determined whether the Dolphin will need to be demolished and rebuilt in order to make repairs.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In aftermath of Santa Cruz’s failed cease-fire vote: Criticism, death threats and a community divided
Unnecessary division was a reason local governments wanted to avoid resolutions calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Yet, division is precisely where Santa Cruz has landed following a a tense city council vote last week.
Posted inEducation
A month after UCSC bus crash, officials still investigating the cause
UC Santa Cruz officials say they’re still investigating the cause of a Dec. 12 bus crash that led to the death of the driver on campus.
Posted inWestside / Downtown
Sunday Reads: UCSC prof examines pre-boomer psychedelics; Santa Cruz’s MAGA rally impression
Specially curated selections from Lookout Santa Cruz correspondents and contributors.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
UCSC’s Benjamin Breen illuminates history of psychedelics before the boomers began tripping
With psychedelics now undergoing a broad cultural reassessment as a tool for therapeutic use, UC Santa Cruz associate professor of history Benjamin Breen is filling in the colors on a crucial period in psychedelic history with his new book, “Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science.” Breen comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz on Jan. 23 to talk about the new book and the history it unfolds.
Posted inFood & Drink
After three years dark, Santa Cruz Fungus Fair returns for its 50th
The Santa Cruz Fungus Fair was a local institution before the pandemic. Now, four years after its previous event, the fair returns for its 50th anniversary, with presentations, lectures and other programs celebrating the versatile mushroom.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
After 10 hours, fiery clashes and a broken window, Santa Cruz City Council calls for Israel-Hamas peace — but not cease-fire
Public debate over an Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution before the Santa Cruz City Council pushed the meeting into the early morning hours of Wednesday, with the council voting 5-2 against a call for a cease-fire and instead adopting a resolution that called for peace but dropped references to a cease-fire.