Sunday Reads: Lara Love Hardin’s dizzying transformation, Cabrillo renaming, and Otter 841

How Lara Love Hardin survived addiction, incarceration and shame to rebuild her life

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

As “The Many Lives of Mama Love” hits bookshops Tuesday, the tale of the Santa Cruz author and literary agent of rebounding from rock bottom to stability – and fame – shows a dizzying transformation. Read her interview with Wallace Baine here.

➤ MORE FROM WALLACE BAINE: The Primack imprint: How Ellen Primack built the Cabrillo Festival into an internationally celebrated showcase of new music

Can we in Santa Cruz please get a grip on the Cabrillo name change issue?

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Everyone needs to relax about the Cabrillo College renaming issue, says former Santa Cruz mayor and longtime housing activist Don Lane. “While there are some very real concerns on both sides when it comes to the name change, it feels like many folks in the community have exaggerated these issues,” Lane says. He dismisses the “history” argument, unpacks “whataboutism” and evokes dead Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. He also begs us to listen to each others’ pain and, in true Santa Cruz spirit, act “differently.” Read his opinion piece in Community Voices.

➤ MORE COVERAGE: As backlash over Cabrillo College name change grows, some donors weigh whether to keep giving

➤ Letter to the editor: ‘I challenge the Cabrillo Board to put this important issue to a community-wide vote’

Selfies by the sea: Otter 841’s popularity renews concerns about humans encroaching on marine wildlife

(Mark Woodward / Native Santa Cruz)

The growing popularity of Santa Cruz’s Otter 841 is renewing concerns about the damaging ways that humans encroach on marine life. Researchers say ocean tourism, social media and portable cameras are enticing spectators to get closer to wild animals. Some are now raising the alarm that repeated human encounters are harming the animals’ predator-avoidance instincts. Read the story from Max Chun here.

➤ MORE COVERAGE: Read all of Lookout’s Otter 841 coverage here

(United Way of Santa Cruz County)