Quick Take
One hundred fifty members and partners enthusiastically celebrated Lookout’s fourth-anniversary party Thursday at Lookout’s offices in downtown Santa Cruz, an event that focused on Lookout’s growth overall.
One hundred fifty members and partners celebrated Lookout’s fourth anniversary Thursday at Lookout’s offices in downtown Santa Cruz, an event that focused on Lookout’s growth overall.
Faris Sabbah, superintendent of Santa Cruz County schools, talked to the crowd about the impact of the Lookout In The Classroom program, which reaches more than half of public high school students in the county. Jamie Garfield, director of student and community engagement, detailed that impact, and told those assembled about the just-launched The Lookout Santa Cruz Support Fund, which enables readers to support Lookout In The Classroom with tax-deductible gifts.
After Lookout’s team members introduced themselves, the crowd got a brief preview of the Lookout’s latest new products, including Neighborhood Roundup, our free five-day-a-week neighborhood newsletter. (Sign up here to get micro-local news, events, weather, crime reports, road closures and more.) And they got a quick preview of our new app, now available to members and soon to our readers overall.
The group also received an update on Lookout Eugene-Springfield, the second Lookout, due to launch in early 2025. About a third of the audience raised their hands when asked if they’d been to Eugene, a strong connection between these two West Coast college towns. (Sign up for our Lookout Eugene-Springfield newsletter here.)
Finally, in the aftermath of the national and local elections, talk within the room turned to 2025 and what a focus on local means going forward. State Sen. John Laird, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin and Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson all attended, and Laird and Pellerin presented Lookout with a “certificate of recognition” for “timely, impactful and factual local journalism” from the California State Legislature.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.