Spike Wong’s latest play, “White Sky, Falling Dragon,” is just weeks away from its COVID-delayed premiere Aug. 26. Very possibly his most personal work thus far, the production is the culmination of a long quest to further ground himself in his identity — and regain what he and his family lost by living and growing up Asian in America.
Lookout Q&A
Posted inK-12 Education
Time, turnover, parent pushback: Superintendent Tanya Krause details challenges as she pursues equity in Scotts Valley
Santa Cruz County’s fourth-largest school district is seeing a 30% turnover of staff this year amid issues of affordability and COVID-related stress on the profession. Scotts Valley Unified Superintendent Tanya Krause talks about the pressures of the moment and how they affect her efforts to build fair and inclusive school environments.
Posted inEducation
Earlier cancer detection: UCSC researchers working on promising ‘liquid biopsy’
Could this research, produced by Daniel Kim’s UC Santa Cruz lab of eight, lead to earlier detection and treatment for cancer, which kills more than half a million Americans a year?
Posted inCoast Life
‘What would we do without these people?’ A Q&A with ‘furious’ farmworker advocate Ann Lopez
When she turned from biologist to sociologist and human rights advocate 25 years ago, Ann Lopez realized how dire the situation was for humans born into a caste system that put them on a path toward what she considers to be agrarian slavery. COVID, climate change and affordability have worked against change, but that hasn’t slowed her fight for justice.
Posted inLatest News
‘Playing catch-up’: Cal Fire CZU chief Nate Armstrong prepares for hand-to-hand combat for fires to come
Nate Armstrong has gotten got a big increase in funding to prepare for what’s ahead. But with an unending fire season — and the logistical challenges and stresses — the head of the Cal Fire unit covering Santa Cruz County sees more questions than answers about the severity of the year ahead.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Why do some women struggle to breastfeed? A UCSC researcher on what we know, and don’t
UC Santa Cruz stem cell biologist Lindsay Hinck wants to solve a global and deeply personal problem: Why do some women struggle to make enough milk for their babies? The former breast cancer researcher switched her research focus after she struggled to breastfeed her daughter 22 years ago. As the nationwide baby formula shortage drags on, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright spoke to Hinck about what we do and don’t know about why breastfeeding can be so difficult.
Posted inCoast Life
Soul shaper: Why does surfboard craftsman Ward Coffey do it all by hand? It’s the only way he knows
There are no machine politics to be played out in this Westside Santa Cruz shaping bay, one of the last of its kind in this surf-mad town or, in fact, any others like it around the world. As technological progress — or disruption — has defined the modern surfboard-shaping experience, Ward Coffey’s business has managed to keep it delightfully old-school and down to earth.
Posted inCity Life
America’s millions of guns have lives of their own; Santa Cruz novelist Vinnie Hansen tracks the one involved in her own burglary
America has the highest per-capita gun ownership in the world — estimated at about 120 per 100 residents. Vinnie Hansen got interested in one of them — the one used, and which then disappeared, after a burglary of her home. She talks about the new book virtually Tuesday via Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Posted inEducation
Everyone in the pool: UCSC’s new Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center director builds on a 50-year program
delfin bautista joined UC Santa Cruz this spring as director of the center that supports and advocates for the university’s LGBTQIA+ community. They have big plans for outreach, inclusivity, challenging wider Santa Cruz — and integrating queer studies into the UCSC curriculum.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘I’m the one who had to bury my son’: Scotts Valley mom fights for change in wake of bullied child’s suicide
Scotts Valley High freshman Mateo Deihl was different, his family and friends say, in wonderful ways. A traumatized product of the foster care system, he had compassion for others and tried to be nice to all. It made him an easy target for bullying. When his mother stepped in to try to help affect change, she says her attempts went unheeded at the middle school and high school. Mateo took his own life in February and now his mom, Regina Deihl, a longtime lawyer in the juvenile justice system, must decide what path to take in honoring his legacy.