Hi friends, Some time in the next week or so, the ongoing Hollywood writers strike will become the longest such strike in the industry’s history. Will the suits ever learn that everything begins with good writing? Take care of your scribes already. Now, on with the show. This Just In! Living legend alert! The great […]
Wallace Baine
Posted inCity Life
Midtown Fridays ending season with a bang as organizer celebrates a milestone
The Sept. 29 edition of Midtown Fridays will be double the size of the usual block party along Soquel Avenue, with Santa Cruz legend James Durbin headlining and 30 vendors lined up. All that comes as organizer Matthew Swinnerton celebrates 10 years in business for his one-man company, Event Santa Cruz. “We have a lot of manufactured experiences to connect people,” Swinnerton says of the current scene and how Event Santa Cruz aims to be different. “And I always wanted to make sure ours were genuine.”
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Legendary skater Tony Alva reflects on what Santa Cruz Skateboards has meant in his career
As NHS Inc., the parent company of Santa Cruz Skateboards, celebrates its 50th anniversary, Wallace Baine tracked down Tony Alva to get a sense of Santa Cruz Skateboards’ impact not just on Alva’s career but on the skate world at large.
Posted inHousing & Development
What’s our vibe? Can Santa Cruz learn from Miami Beach?
Urban muraling, colorful and unique lifeguard towers and more. Santa Cruz finds itself in the throes of some big changes brought about by the ambitious plans for development, ones that could make the city look and feel radically different in just a few years. So it’s time to ask: What can or should the city or its residents do to assert its personality in the public sphere? We want your ideas — drawn from your travels and experiences.
Posted inCoast Life
The sights, the sounds and the smells: Wallace Baine takes you on a tour of the Santa Cruz County Fair
Go inside the 2023 Santa Cruz County Fair, running through Sunday at the fairgrounds in Watsonville, with Lookout’s Wallace Baine via video shot by Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz Skateboards hits its 50th anniversary as a crucial component in the history of skateboarding
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.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Events
Weekender: Talking book bans, Baroque Fest’s road ahead and Arivu landing at Quarry
Hi friends, I was the sixth person in line at the market the other day, and I noticed that not a single person waiting in front of me was looking at a cellphone. Records show that hadn’t happened since *checks notes* April of 2011. I would have taken a photo to capture this rare occurrence […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Panel aims to explore censorship, American-style
With book bans having been enacted in 37 U.S. states — the vast majority of them having to do with the lives of people of color and LGBTQ+ people — a group including educators and advocates will convene Oct. 6 at the downtown Santa Cruz public library to attempt to address the rising threat.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Everything you need to know to attend the Santa Cruz County Fair, running Wednesday through Sunday
Wallace Baine and Lily Belli bring you the details of this year’s Santa Cruz County Fair, which opens for business at noon sharp on Wednesday and runs through Sunday.
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.