Climate change. Drought. More public needs of every kind. We asked new city of Santa Cruz fire chief Rob Oatey what motivates him, and challenges him, in his new role.
Lookout Q&A
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Q&A: New Santa Cruz police chief Bernie Escalante takes on staffing woes, COVID impacts and mental wellness
After serving as interim chief following the resignation of former chief Andy Mills in October, Bernie Escalante moves into his role as new police chief with goals to build staffing and trusting relationships with the community. Several days after his official appointment, he told Lookout about his vision and the department’s challenges.
Posted inEducation, Events
UCSC readies for ‘good trouble’ as it dedicates a college to John Lewis
John R. Lewis’ life and commitment to social justice, from the streets of Alabama to the halls of Congress, are legendary. Now, UC Santa Cruz’s College Ten takes on his name with a ceremony Friday, and charts new paths in social activism and positive social change.
Posted inCity Life
A gathering of (AI) knuckleheads
What is AI? And where is it taking us? We talk with entrepreneur and gadfly G. Craig Vachon, who leads a panel discussion Wednesday at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center about the perils and promise of artificial intelligence.
Posted inCity Life
A passion for baking: It’s 4/20, so one of the 30,000 cookies ‘Big Pete’ makes per day can’t be far away
Santa Cruz-based company Big Pete’s Treats has come a long way from Pete Feurtado’s kitchen on the Westside. Along with the help of son Pete Jr. and daughter Katie, the family business has managed to produce the No. 1 cookie edible in California.
Posted inCoast Life
Only a Santa Cruz surfer knows the feeling: Celebrating a decade of protection as one of only a dozen World Surfing Reserves
There are only a dozen surfing ecosystems on earth that have been designated as World Surfing Reserves, communities that treasure their surf breaks so much that they commit to their preservation. As Santa Cruz celebrates the 10-year anniversary of joining the club, it has hired a top local surfer, who is also a committed environmentalist, to help strengthen its role as the program’s flagship ecosystem.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Joseph Thompson, lead organizer for unionizing Starbucks, is just getting started
As three Santa Cruz Starbucks stores lead much of the chain unionizing in California, local leader Joseph Thompson cites their great-grandfather for union inspiration: “Organizing gives me energy, and because I’m young it’s going to be a lot easier for me to keep that up.”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘There’s no way you can hide from it’: Discussing California’s housing crisis with Conor Dougherty
When New York Times economics correspondent Conor Dougherty first moved back to San Francisco from the East Coast in 2014, he saw one major issue that related to everything: housing availability and affordability. Now, eight years later and covering housing on top of economics, Dougherty comes to Santa Cruz to discuss the continued concerns surrounding housing both locally and nationally.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Manu the senior supervisor? First-time politico battles ‘tangle of wires,’ resistance to inevitable change
One year and three months into his first political foray, First District County Supervisor Manu Koenig has run into some walls, prodded himself into patience and picked up some things the hard way. But he says he’s learning and doesn’t seem deterred by the challenges he’s come up against thus far.
Posted inEducation
Zoom, social anxiety, new fun — and sleep: UCSC student body president talks reemerging student life
UC Santa Cruz Student Union Assembly President Shivika Sivakumar describes the “revival” on campus after two COVID-torn years — and her favorite projects as students manage through unprecedented times.