Morning Lookout: Trivia Night comes down to wire and Betty Jane rides again

Hello there, friends. It’s Wednesday, July 27, and another typical summer day awaits for Santa Cruz County, with the marine layer gradually making way for sunny skies and highs from the 60s to the 90s.

If you weren’t at Abbott Square on Tuesday night, you missed a fun one. It was the inaugural Lookout Trivia Night, hosted by the inimitable Wallace Baine, and our founder and CEO, Ken Doctor, sets the scene:

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

More than 40 trivia buffs — in a “trivia” parlance of Wallace Baine — took in Lookout’s first Trivia Night on Tuesday at Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz. Wallace hosted the evening, tossing out a range of free-flowing questions, ranging from deep Santa Cruz history to the mysteries of Hollywood lineage. Our noncompetitive, kind-of-competitive, table-by-table semi-competition filled a good portion of the square, which hosted the first of three monthly events. (Mark your calendar for the next ones: Tuesday, Aug. 30, then Tuesday, Sept. 27. They’re free, and you can register for the Aug. 30 event here.)

We enjoyed the active participation of all the teams. And the winning response turned out to be a nail-biter, with four questions required to declare a winner, as each of the two finalists showed their continuing acumen. The deciding question had a local flavor, turning on roles played by Santa Cruz native and Harbor High School grad Adam Scott.

Westside Santa Cruz residents Clark Brigham and Mary Maloney were Tuesday’s top trivialists.

(Giovanni Moujaes / Lookout Santa Cruz)

The winners were Westside Santa Cruz residents Clark Brigham and Mary Maloney, who took home a nice Santa Cruz-gifts-only basket, carefully curated by our two ace, mostly-behind -the-scenes organizers of the event, Lookout Community & Commerce directors Jamie Keil and Ashley Holmes.

Our double congratulations to Mary and Clark — who are getting married in 2½ weeks.

And join us for the next ones, remembering Wallace’s theme: Trivia is anything but trivial.

So mark your calendars for Aug. 30, and don’t forget to register. (Lookout members get a special treat!)

Now, to the day’s headlines ...

Brew Cruz warms up the bus, Staff of Life’s Watsonville fun and whither free bread?

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

A familiar sight is back on Santa Cruz County’s craft brew scene, Lily Belli reports, and there’s more than just groceries at Staff of Life’s Watsonville location. Read Lily Belli on Food here.

➤ ICYMI: The CZU-inspired birth of Three Sisters Three Corners at Casalegno’s (Lookout)

L.A. County could avoid mask mandate this week as coronavirus cases decline

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Recent declines in cases and coronavirus-positive hospitalizations could pull Los Angeles County back from the brink of a new universal public indoor mask mandate. Our partners at the Los Angeles Times have the details.

➤ LOCAL SCENE: Santa Cruz County COVID tracking getting more sophisticated as a new vaccine enters environment (Lookout)

And that’s what I know this hump day morn. You never know what Lookout has up our collective sleeve, so I’d recommend you bookmark our website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep tabs throughout the day.

To ensure you’re staying informed about all the goings-on in Santa Cruz, please consider becoming a Lookout member if you’re not already. Our content isn’t possible without community support (and did I mention that members get a special treat at Lookout Trivia Night?).

Now get out there and make it a super Wednesday!

Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz