Morning Lookout: Carrillo sentencing imminent, a farmers market leader & dahlias amid CZU ashes
Good morning, faithful readers. It is Thursday, Aug. 25, and the thick fog and welcome drizzle dampening areas closer to the coast will give way to sun and highs in the 60s and 70s, with the Santa Cruz Mountains warming up toward 90.
Jonesing to explore Lookout for yourself? Be my guest!
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More than two years after the Ben Lomond shootout that killed Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputy Damon Gutzwiller, former Air Force sergeant Steven Carrillo is due in a Santa Cruz court Friday to be sentenced for murder — and Max Chun fills us in.
I hope you’ve had some time to peruse our definitive guide to local farmers markets, and Lily Belli caught up with Nesh Dhillon, who has managed Santa Cruz markets for 20 years, broadening their offerings and navigating the pandemic and other challenges.
In our Community Voices opinion section, meanwhile, Ben Lomond resident Daniel DeLong writes about his wife’s vision for building a dahlia farm on property charred by the CZU fire and Beeline Blooms’ community focus.
We’re also spotlighting another of our interviews with residents of the Benchlands homeless encampment, as Jody K. Biehl and Kevin Painchaud talked with Billy Lowery, who says he’s grateful to be “outside” after years locked away, but lacking in skills, money or any idea what to do with his remaining years.
Lots of headlines, so let’s get right to it.
Steven Carrillo faces sentencing for the murder of Santa Cruz County deputy Damon Gutzwiller
Steven Carrillo, connected to the white nationalist Boogaloo Bois, will hear victim impact statements in a Santa Cruz courtroom Friday then receive his sentence, which could include life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has also received a 41-year federal sentence for a related killing of a law enforcement officer in Oakland. Max Chun reports.
➤ MORE: ‘I felt hate more than anything’: How active-duty airman Steven Carrillo tried to start a civil war (ProPublica)
Building our green town squares: Nesh Dhillon talks growth, future of Santa Cruz farmers markets
Nesh Dhillon has managed Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets for more than 20 years. In that time, he has ushered in an expansion of five thriving markets from Felton to Live Oak and the inclusion of the global ready-to-eat food now satisfying our appetites. Read his Q&A with Lily Belli.
➤ DIG IN: Santa Cruz County farmers markets: The definitive guide to locations, vendors and shopping tips (Lookout)
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Santa Cruz County Job Board
A packed Thursday already, and guess who’s coming to the party later? That would be Wallace Baine, whose weekly look at Santa Cruz County’s art and entertainment scene, a little jam we like to call Weekender, hit the internets in mere hours. Bookmark Lookout and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss that and everything else we’ve got in the content pipeline.
And that content pipeline can’t keep flowing without community support, so if you’re not already, please consider becoming a Lookout member. And if you like what we’re doing, tell a friend!
Go boldly forth, and I shall meet you back here Friday morning.
Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz
