This year, NHS Inc. — the Seabright-based parent company of Santa Cruz Skateboards — marks its half-century anniversary in the skateboard business. In the immense but imaginary skatepark of today’s skateboarding industry, Santa Cruz Skateboards is that legendary skater that all the other kids stop to watch. It has shaped what the industry looks like today. And it has built a brand that has spilled out beyond the world of skateboarding, becoming a touchstone in the world of commercial art.
Coast Life
Posted inEducation
The winner in latest Cabrillo renaming delay? That a larger conversation continues
On one hand, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a morally dubious character. On the other hand, Wallace Baine writes, an institutional change like the proposed renaming of Santa Cruz County’s community college should leave room to allow community members to get used to that change. So while a decision to put off Cabrillo College’s name change will displease many, the time will allow for some honest examinations.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
More than just the fair: Cultural events take center stage in Watsonville’s big upcoming weekend
Beginning with next Friday’s Fiesta Mexicana at the downtown plaza, continuing Saturday with a celebration of music and culture at the Mello Center and winding up Sunday with a Mexican Independence Day festival, next weekend is shaping up to be an excellent time to visit Watsonville. And the Santa Cruz County Fair is happening, too.
Posted inCoast Life
After a stormy offseason, Zeke Fraser is hustling to get the Santa Cruz County Fair up and running
Less than three months into his tenure as Santa Cruz County Fair CEO, the pressure is on for Zeke Fraser to pull off this year’s version, which runs Sept. 13-17. The longtime local talks about getting up to speed, what’s on tap for this year’s fair and bridging the North County-South County divide.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Watsonville’s first new park in 20 years a boost to ‘underserved’ area
Santa Cruz County is getting its first new park in more than two decades after county supervisors voted unanimously late last month to approve the purchase of 35.5 acres of land at 188 Whiting Rd. in Watsonville.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz Harbor’s anchovy invasion is over — for now
Thousands of anchovies have found their way back into Monterey Bay after they swarmed the Santa Cruz surfline and small craft harbor near Seabright Beach. Though harbor staff is not sure why this phenomenon occurs, they are glad this iteration was quick and that they do not have to oversee any large-scale cleanup efforts.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
‘Soft psychedelic’ ketamine use is on the rise in Santa Cruz, taking on trauma, death and ‘becoming a better me’
Among a buffet table of other psychedelic drugs, “psychedelic-adjacent” ketamine is gaining popularity as a treatment option for a number of crippling conditions, as well as a means to face the end of life, and even as a method of self-improvement. Legal and legitimate ketamine use is on the rise in Santa Cruz County, where a number of doctors, psychotherapists and other professionals are offering ketamine-based services, and where an emerging support network for those interested in psychedelics is based.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The secret to aging in Santa Cruz: Wear that tiny bikini on the inside
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach is sometimes surprised at the gray wave sweeping Santa Cruz. On her regular beach walks, she sees “more and more older folks out catching some rays.” Census data confirms the trend; the county’s 65-84 age bracket grew by 81% between 2010 and 2020. Sternbach, in her 70s, shares her thoughts as she grapples with her own age-related ailments and “being transported to this other existence.”
Posted inCity Life
Whether your jam is Fleetwood Mac or Mitski, Streetlight is the place to listen in on new albums
Downtown Santa Cruz’s Streetlight Records is hosting a listening party for Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours Live” album on its release day next Friday, and you can hear Mitski’s latest, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” there, too, before it hits shelves.
Posted inCity Life
Amy Ettinger’s terminal cancer diagnosis is gut-wrenching news for Santa Cruz’s literary community
In a personal essay in the Washington Post, longtime Santa Cruz journalist and author Amy Ettinger, 49, revealed her terminal cancer diagnosis. It’s “one of the bravest and most forthright things I’ve ever read about the experience of facing death at a young age,” Wallace Baine writes.