Good morning. It is Monday, May 20, and after a cloudy start the forecast calls for mostly sunny skies around Santa Cruz County and temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
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Graduate student workers at UC Santa Cruz are set to hit the picket lines Monday, the first in a strike authorized across the University of California system, Hillary Ojeda reports. (And in case you missed it, check out Hillary’s interview with KAZU discussing this recent story on educators leaving Santa Cruz County for Colorado.)
Lily Belli looks at Humble Sea Brewing’s latest expansion, a spot on San Francisco’s Pier 39 that has the Santa Cruz brewery bucking an overall downward trend in the craft beer industry.
Ahead of his newsletter coming later Monday, Christopher Neely reports that contact visits for inmate families will be on the agenda during this week’s county supervisors budget hearings. County jails stopped such visits during the pandemic, but pressure has been mounting for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to reinstate them.
Monday means another installment of our traffic-and-transit-focused series Carmageddon, and this week Max Chun looks at what Reimagine Metro changes for the transit agency and its riders and what’s still to come.
Our Monday morning offerings also include a Q&A with astrophysicist Melodie Kao, an outgoing UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral fellow, and you’ll find those on the other side of a roundup of Friday’s NEXTies awards show from Wallace Baine:
Shortly before the NEXTies award ceremony started Friday at the outdoor space of Woodhouse Blending and Brewing, one of the approximate 275 guests in attendance — wearing a sumptuous plum-colored gown and matching wrap — told a visiting reporter, “There are so few occasions to really dress up in Santa Cruz.” She was right about that, but the NEXTies was certainly one of those occasions. A buzzing and exuberant crowd, many of whom were dressed in their best, gathered at Woodhouse for one of Santa Cruz County’s most prominent red-carpet events.
Accompanied by live music from the Band of the Year (Trestles) and Musician of the Year (Alwa Gordon), 20 artists, educators, activists, athletes and businesspeople were honored in a snappy conga line of award presentations, co-sponsored by Lookout and Event Santa Cruz.
Among the many honorees were Watsonville High School counselor Daisy Nuñez for Giveback Person of the Year, the renewable-energy startup Climatize for Innovative Business of the Year, and the Soquel High football team for Student-Athletes of the Year. The evening culminated in the Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowed upon Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez, who founded Barrios Unidos almost 50 years ago and still runs it today. Representatives from Barrios Unidos came out to the show in big numbers to show their support for their leader, who urged the crowd to find a way to help people.
With a sixth location set to open on San Francisco’s Pier 39 this summer, Santa Cruz’s Humble Sea is defying craft beer’s bust
Santa Cruz’s Humble Sea Brewing Co. will open its sixth taproom in the Bay Area on San Francisco’s Pier 39 this summer, making it one of the most prolific breweries in the state. The brand has grown 25% year over year, according to one of the owners, defying a downward trend in the craft beer industry overall. Lily Belli reports.
Sheriff’s failure to reinstate contact visits for inmate families will be a focus at supervisors budget hearing
Santa Cruz County is facing heat for keeping a pandemic pause on contact visitation for jail inmates and their families. County supervisors promise action, but advocates say this continued lack of contact visits has a traumatizing effect on children. Details here from Christopher Neely.
DAILY DIGEST
There’s more on the way from Lookout, per usual, on this Monday. We’ll have the latest on Santa Cruz County high school sports from Thomas Frey, and Christopher Neely will have In the Public Interest, his newsletter covering local politics and policy. You can sign up here for that and all of Lookout’s other newsletters, plus breaking news alerts via email and text, and give Lookout a follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads to stay current on local news and views via social media.
Before we go, an invitation:
Lookout members, please join us for a Lookout Pulitzer Prize celebration at our downtown office on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. Have a drink, light snacks and help us celebrate this win. This event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP. Not yet a member? Sign up today to support our work and join the celebration!