Morning Lookout: Silver Spur’s new familiar, Cabrillo renaming shortlist & protecting our oceans

What’s good, Lookout peeps? It is Thursday, May 25, and my sources at the National Weather Service say it’ll be another cloudy one around Santa Cruz County, with the sun breaking through in spots and highs in the 60s for most of us.

It’s clear sailing to Lookout’s latest, if you’re aiming to get right to it.
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To Soquel we go first, with Wallace Baine bringing word that the Silver Spur, a venerable mid-county breakfast and lunch spot, is set to reopen next week with new ownership. But Juan Valencia, a longtime Silver Spur cook under former owner Linda Hopper, says the new menu won’t merely be similar to the menu during the Hopper years — it will be exactly the same. “We’re keeping everything,” Valencia says.

The Cabrillo College renaming saga will open another chapter next month, Hillary Ojeda reports, when the college will release a shortlist of five potential new names. Community members can get a look at the new names, and give their reactions, at forums beginning June 14.

And protecting our oceans and fighting climate change is top of mind for activist Dan Haifley, who in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section writes about how crucial it is that the U.S. Senate ratifies a new United Nations treaty on the high seas.

Let’s go to the Thursday headlines, shall we?

Soquel’s beloved Silver Spur to reopen under new owners, bringing back the menu from its glory days

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Juan Valencia, a cook at the Silver Spur under longtime owner Linda Hopper, is taking over the Soquel standby along with son Daniel Govea and help from the rest of the family, who run downtown Santa Cruz taqueria El Huarache. “Our [menu] is going back to being more homestyle,” says Govea. “We’ll make everything from scratch daily, our soups, our sandwiches.” Wallace Baine checks in.

➤ MORE FROM THE LOCAL FOOD & DRINK SCENE: Prize-winning vodka, new efforts to save salmon & spring strawberries

Cabrillo College to announce shortlist of five potential new names at June 14 community forum

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

The public will be able to learn about the list of five potential new names for Cabrillo College at meetings on June 14 at the college’s Aptos campus, June 28 at the Watsonville campus and July 12 at Scotts Valley City Hall. More here from Hillary Ojeda.

➤ “NOW THAT WE KNOW BETTER, WE DO BETTER”: Cabrillo College will no longer be named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

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Upcoming events in Santa Cruz County

FRIDAY 5/26
The Lost Boys feat. James Durbin @Bruno’s Bar and Grill
Tyler Rich @Felton Music Hall
CreateAbility Hour @Felton Branch Library
G Perico @The Catalyst
OS Muntates @Moe’s Alley
Pipe Down Official: Pipe Down w/ Koosh @Crow’s Nest Restaurant

SATURDAY 5/27
Bike Month Community Ride @Watsonville Cyclery
#GOATyoga w/piglets @Beer Thirty Bottle Shop & Pour House
Fae Masquerade Ball @Brookdale Lodge
FALCON! with Kettle of Hawks @The Crepe Place
Afrobeats Nite Santa Cruz @Moe’s Alley
Poi Rogers @Fruition Brewing

SUNDAY 5/28
Brown Babes Brunch with Dr. Terence Lester @Oswald Restaurant
Big Richard Band @Moe’s Alley
Hella Queer Market: Pride! @Greater Purpose Brewing Company
Mae Powell @The Catalyst
Poi Rogers @Malone’s Grille

MONDAY 5/29
Veteran Surf Alliance Memorial Day Paddle Out @Capitola Beach

A good start to this pre-holiday-weekend Thursday for sure. Still on the menu, as is customary at Lookout on Thursdays, is Weekender, Wallace Baine’s recommendation-packed stroll through Santa Cruz County’s arts and culture scene, hitting inboxes near you in just hours. You can sign up here for that and all of Lookout’s other newsletters, plus breaking news alerts via text and email. And you know we’re on the socials — follow Lookout on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with it all.

Our content isn’t possible without community support, so if you’re not already, please consider becoming a Lookout member.

Your Thursday awaits — get out there and make it a good one!

Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz