Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor: In the wealthiest country, in one of the most expensive places to live, why can’t we guarantee that everyone has a place to live? With all this abundance, what is preventing it from being shared? […]
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
From warring yard signs to national vitriol, election season has pre-Civil War feel
Election season is in the air. For Claudia Sternbach, the constant vitriol and opposition she sees online, in the news and even in warring Santa Cruz County yard signs is disturbing. Worried about our current divisions, she headed to her local bookstore and bought two new novels on the Civil War — “Booth” by well-known Santa Cruz author Karen Joy Fowler and “Horse” by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks. Both, she writes, speak to us today as we edge toward Nov. 8.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Santa Cruz really goofed on losing Garfield church
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor: It is unthinkable that the Garfield church could ever be demolished as is planned and approved. What a loss for the neighborhood. We know the building itself has no historical significance, but that site certainly […]
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Happy 30th birthday, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: Here’s to long life and continued good health!
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary celebrated its 30-year anniversary Sept. 17 with a Santa Cruz gala that was a who’s-who of local leaders, celebrities and activists. Missed it? Watch our video to get a glimpse of the celebrations — including a bevy of blue and green ball gowns and some adorable sea creatures.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Reelect Yvette Brooks to Capitola City Council
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor: On Nov. 8, we should reelect Yvette Brooks to Capitola City Council. Over the past four years, Yvette has been a tireless advocate and leader, including successfully shepherding the city through an unprecedented pandemic during […]
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
‘During my incarceration, I was screaming for help’: How I went from incarcerated woman to advocate
Crystal Ross spent six of the past 10 years in jail in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. In this, the second part of a “Conversation” with Lookout Community Voices editor Jody K. Biehl, Crystal talks about the addiction that led her to go to jail and lose her daughters and about “hitting bottom” and finding her way out by advocating for herself and other women in jail. She begs Santa Cruz County to do better, to offer more services and “more compassion” for those with addictions and mental health disorders in our jails. She says Gemma House, the transitional treatment program she is now in, offers a clear model.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: I am frustrated with the standard of care for kids in California. It’s lower than that of animals.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor: Thanks for writing this article. I think it was very well-written. However, as the principal of a school, I often see kids whose parents are in jail or struggle with addiction and homelessness. There is […]
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Conversations with Jody: ‘I have never had such a horrible experience as I did this past year in the Santa Cruz jail’
Crystal Ross has spent six of the past 10 years in the Santa Cruz and Monterey county jails. She describes her experiences here in a lengthy “Conversation with Jody,” which offers a peek at life “inside.” She describes women wailing to see their children, “unhygienic” facilities, rampant untreated addiction and mental health issues and a system unprepared to meet people’s needs, despite all the money we have thrown at it. Hers is not an easy read, but it’s an important one. Sober now and free since Sept. 17, Crystal says she is working to be an advocate and a voice for others still in jail.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I failed at surfing, but Elkhorn Slough’s otters changed my life
Marisa Messina, an MBA student at Stanford, wanted to be a surfer, but could never quite get vertical on her board. She stumbled into kayaking and fell in love with the harmony she observed among the creatures at Moss Landing’s Elkhorn Slough. Here, she takes us on her journey and urges us to imitate and learn from the animals, plants and algae that surround us.
