Lookout PM: Coffeehouses’ shift to stellar food, clocktower stabbing suspect deemed mentally unfit for trial, and a must-see

In Santa Cruz, cafés evolve into all-day dining spots as coffee culture shifts

By Lily Belli

Santa Cruz coffeehouses are expanding into full-service dining, adding chef-driven, all-day menus as high-quality coffee becomes standard and less of a differentiator. While some cafés embrace the shift to stand out and draw customers, others stick with simpler offerings, reflecting a split in how the industry is evolving.

Fatal clocktower stabbing case suspended as suspect is deemed mentally unfit to stand trial

By Cecilia Schutz

Criminal proceedings against Robert David Worel, the man charged in last month’s fatal stabbing at the clocktower plaza in downtown Santa Cruz, were suspended Monday after a judge ruled that Worel is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Lily Belli on Food: Coffeehouses upping their food game; Abbott Square newcomers; learn fermentation from a master

Lily Belli’s Tuesday newsletter covers a culinary trend for coffee shops, what’s new at a downtown Santa Cruz food destination, a fermenting vegetables workshop and a secret to the crispiest chicken cutlets. Dig in!

Two brothers, one actor: Charles Pasternak shines in Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘Vincent’

Santa Cruz Shakespeare turns to the letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo in “Vincent,” exploring the legendary artist’s life marked by passion, struggle and vision. It is an intimate, solo-actor production anchored by a commanding performance from Charles Pasternak, Jana Marcus writes in her latest theater review, asking us to reconsider not just the artist, but how we choose to see artists at all.

OPINION: Gen Z, don’t let it scare the crap out of you. Get a colonoscopy.

By Kathleen Whilden

Gen Z is facing a rise in colorectal cancer, yet many young people with symptoms delay screening out of fear or embarrassment. UC Santa Cruz literature and psychology student Kathleen Whilden wants to end the embarrassment and writes that yes, getting a colonoscopy is uncomfortable, but it’s far less frightening than a late diagnosis. She knows. She has had several colonoscopies and lived to tell about them – she even has some souvenirs. She pushes her peers to lose their fear of potty jokes and get tested.

Kids Day returns to downtown Santa Cruz this Saturday

By Ashley Palma-Jimenez

Downtown Santa Cruz is hosting its annual Kids Day this Saturday, May 2, from noon to 4 p.m. on Cooper Street and on Pacific Avenue between Locust and Church streets.