Santa Cruz family therapist Mara Alverson was saddened to see Lookout’s recent story headlined “Junior Guards joy: Why making my daughter cry every day was one of the best decisions of my life.” She doesn’t doubt Junior Guards is a great fit for many kids, but she questions “the wisdom of forcing kids to be part of a program that created tears every day for a week.”
Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
As a 400-year-oak falls, remembering fallen Santa Cruz police officer Elizabeth Butler
Elizabeth Butler was the first female Santa Cruz police officer killed in the line of duty. On the 10-year anniversary of her tragic death, a massive 400-year-old oak tree fell at her family home.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Is it me or are we not building enough affordable family housing in Santa Cruz?
New Leaf Community Markets brand manager Lindsay Gizdich said the store is moving from Pacific Avenue in order to have…
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The day the Santa Cruz homeless crisis knocked on my front door
In April, a homeless woman knocked on Sheila Carrillo’s door on the Westside of Santa Cruz. She was stunned, but then realized something else: She knew the woman. She gave her food and a shower and helped her get to a treatment center. But Carrillo wonders what will become of her and so many others who recently lost their homes when the city cleared out the Sycamore Grove encampment.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Junior Guards joy: Why making my daughter cry every day was one of the best decisions of my life
“The best day of 2023 came and went unnoticed by most of the city 13 days ago,” says Santa Cruz dad Dan Ackerstein. That’s because on June 12, the Junior Guards program to teach kids ages 6-17 water rescue skills began in the city of Santa Cruz. Similar programs exist in other parts of the county and propel kids to state, national and international competitions. Ackerstein calls Junior Guards “the most ridiculous, difficult, important and remarkable things about Santa Cruz. It’s basically a rite of passage for many families, including, now, mine.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Why CJPA’s giveaway to chains won’t solve California’s press woes
In a letter to California lawmakers, Lookout CEO and founder Ken Doctor outlines his opposition to Assembly Bill 886 as the the California Journalism Preservation Act heads to a hearing before state Senate Judiciary Committee.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How Daniel Ellsberg opened the door to one of the most consequential climate stories of our time
Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, was undaunted by the challenge of finding out what the oil industry knew about carbon emissions and global warming. Ellsberg died Friday at 92.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We need wider sidewalks and protected bike lanes in Santa Cruz: Let’s rethink our rights-of-way
We should be using 20 to 30% of our city land better, write urban planner Stephen Svete and Strong Towns advocate John Mulry. They believe in prioritizing bikes over cars, walking over parking and creating communities rather than transport corridors. Locally, that would mean narrowing our roads and adopting protected bike lanes, investing in more tree planters, curb extensions and more. “As Santa Cruz undergoes its biggest facelift since the 1989 earthquake, this is an ideal time to be talking about this,” they say.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Here’s what celebrations of Juneteenth shouldn’t be missing
It’s impossible to celebrate a national holiday that marks the emancipation of Black people in 1865, writes academic and author Kellie Carter Jackson, without considering the role of education in freedom, which the GOP continues to attack today.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I’ve been dancing to the Grateful Dead for 50 years … I just wish I could remember it all
When you can’t trust your memory, it’s time to whip out your phone and push the record button, says Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach, who is in her 70s. Sternbach is growing frustrated by her memory gaps — and that “there isn’t a single person left who might be able to confirm or deny” what she does remember. Here, she recounts a recent memory she wants to hold — a celebration of 50 years of Grateful Dead shows — and the freedom she experienced on the dance floor. Luckily, her husband caught it all on his cell.