Morning Lookout: Inside a Highway 9 mudslide, a new series on work life & Hitchcock fest

Hello again! It is Monday, Feb. 27, and Santa Cruz County is looking at another day of showers, with thunderstorms and gusty winds possible, and temperatures in the 40s.

Aiming to explore the latest from Lookout solo on this last Monday of February?
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It’s been nearly two months since a mudslide shut down a half-mile stretch of Highway 9 in Ben Lomond, and Max Chun and Kevin Painchaud have a look at the painstaking process of clearing the debris and restoring the roadway. Caltrans is still aiming for a March 4 reopening — and that’s just one of the stories you’ll find in our Storms 2023: Road to Recovery section.

Lookout has been busy working to bring you even more coverage of Santa Cruz County. Now, we’re introducing two new regular weekly features.

Expanding on our coverage of employment and the economy, we’re launching How I Got My Job. Every Monday, we’ll publish interviews with local professionals, entrepreneurs, small business owners and tradespeople providing valuable insights about how they got established in their careers. This week, Thomas Sawano chats with David Schulkin about his path from surfing instructor to therapist.

We’re also boosting our weekend offerings with a news quiz. Each Saturday, Wallace Baine tests your knowledge of the week in news in Santa Cruz County — and beyond. Miss last weekend’s quiz? Check it out here.

You’ll find more from Wallace among Monday’s headlines as he previews next month’s inaugural Hitchcock Festival in Scotts Valley, so come along as we check it all out.

What goes into clearing a landslide? On Highway 9, it’s a lot of hours, people and uncertainty

For nearly 10 weeks, dozens of Caltrans crew members have tirelessly worked in the Santa Cruz Mountains to reopen even one lane of Highway 9, which fell victim to a major landslide on New Year’s Eve. Recent rains caused more debris to crumble from the hillside, leaving much to do ahead of a hopeful March 4 reopening. Max Chun goes inside the process, with images from Kevin Painchaud.

➤ ROAD TO RECOVERY: Find all of our coverage of ongoing cleanup and recovery following January’s storms

How I got my job: Santa Cruz therapist David Schulkin switched from teaching surf lessons to mental health

We speak with Santa Cruz therapist David Schulkin about his motivations for becoming a therapist, his perspective on the field and what advice he would give to recent college graduates and career-switchers interested in therapy work. Find the first installment of our series here.

➤ LOOKING FOR A JOB OR HIRING? Peruse Lookout’s Santa Cruz County jobs board

And we are off to the races on another workweek. Stay current with everything going on around Santa Cruz County with all of Lookout’s other newsletters and our breaking news alerts, which you can sign up for here. On social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our content isn’t possible without community support, so if you’re not already, please consider becoming a Lookout member.

Enjoy your Monday, and give yourself a little extra time on those messy roads.

Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz

FOR THE RECORD

• A previous version of this article misstated the current ownership of the Hitchcock estate. The property is now owned by Robert Brassfield.

• An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of a political organization that helped lead a 2019 recall of two Santa Cruz city councilmembers. Carol Polhamus was a member of the steering committee of Santa Cruz United.