There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a proudly miscreant tone and attitude dominated Santa Cruz surf culture. Some of those who survived that tough period, including big-wave champion Darryl “Flea” Virostko, are trying to pay it forward. Meanwhile, those assembled at Steamer Lane on Thursday afternoon mourned two recent deaths and tried to put them into perspective.
Pandemic Life
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Here we go again: California coronavirus cases rising. Is a new wave coming?
Coronavirus cases have risen by nearly 30% in California over the past week. Hospitalizations are up, too.
Posted inCoast Life
Quelling the ‘stigma of shame’: The county’s top doctor opens up about the pain of losing a child to fentanyl
If it can happen to Santa Cruz County Public Health Officer Gail Newel and her wife, Kelli, both longtime physicians, then it can happen to any family. If it can happen to the highest achievers in our society, like doctors and dentists and lawyers, then it can happen to anyone. Nyeland Newel was a 38-year-old dentist who picked up an opioid craving while at UC Santa Cruz. His addictive genes collided with America’s opioid crisis in tragic fashion.
Posted inCoast Life
Hungry for answers: Fentanyl town hall confirms a community plague and crying need for a better response
A crowd of 175 heard and talked with a panel of local experts about the fentanyl plague that is increasingly targeting young people in Santa Cruz County. The town hall offered a start at confronting numerous knotty issues that were raised in the recent Part 1 of Lookout’s “Poisoned” series.
Posted inEvents, Politics & Policy
As fentanyl’s painful death toll grows in Santa Cruz, taking young lives, it’s time for meaningful solutions
The stories of loss from mothers Sophie Veniel and Carrie Luther inform a much larger picture of fatal fentanyl overdoses. Lookout’s monthlong dive into the rise of fentanyl-related deaths locally finds a lack of cohesive attention paid to this post-pandemic epidemic, as local officials plan a Monday town hall to assess and troubleshoot new strategies. Our three-part series begins today.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California lawmaker scraps plan to require COVID-19 vaccinations for school children
Without the bill, the state will continue with a less strict COVID-19 vaccine mandate authorized last year, one that allows parents to opt their children out based on personal beliefs.
Posted inEducation
No more mask mandate: UC Santa Cruz students greet coming change warily
“I have a teacher who was like, ‘Away with the masks!’ And just wants to see everybody’s faces. But I know people are gonna still wear it and be cautious about it.” After two years of pandemic restrictions and remote learning, UC Santa Cruz students wonder about the school’s move to lift its mask mandate effective Sunday.
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 inPolitics & Policy
California’s new benefits for undocumented immigrants are not enough, workers say
California’s undocumented immigrants risked themselves working during pandemic. Lawmakers want to pay them unemployment benefits.
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.