2011: A year of ups and downs
January
– The White Raven changed hands when Larry and Kathryn McNeill sold the iconic coffee shop to Mike and Dorothy Golden.
– On Jan. 10, Jamba Juice in Scotts Valley was robbed at gunpoint, and a man and woman were arrested for the crime the next week.
– The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dropped the idea of building a permanent garage in Bonny Doon when costs soared for the project.
– The Hilton Santa Cruz-Scotts Valley was sold at foreclosure auction but continued to operate under new management.
– Grayson Terence, a Boulder Creek baby, was born at 11:11 a.m. Jan. 11, 2011.
– Scotts Valley’s city council gave the OK to developer Jim Sullivan to build 50 townhouses on a vacant lot on Scotts Valley Drive.
– An unusual carpenter’s union protest featured a 20-foot tall Grim Reaper in front of Seagate’s headquarters on Scotts Valley Drive.
– San Lorenzo Valley High’s longtime football coach, Doug Morris, was named a finalist for the NFL’s national high school coach of the year award.
February
– To save students money, Cabrillo College expanded its textbook rental program.
– Scotts Valley grandmother Helen Hall traveled to Dallas and saw her grandson, Korey Hall, win the Super Bowl as a member of the Green Bay Packers.
– Blue Star Moms, a patriotic parent support group led locally by Kim Monack and Shannon Curtis, opened a chapter in the San Lorenzo Valley.
– The Scotts Valley High School girls basketball team seized its first league title in school history by going 12-0 in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League.
– Led by sophomore goalkeeper Emily Johnson, the Scotts Valley High girls soccer team wrapped up the SCCAL title.
– Marissa Kingham, a 14-year-old in Boulder Creek, found her father unresponsive and called 911, saving his life.
– Sheriff’s deputies cracked down on a blighted drug house on Felton Empire Road, which started the cleanup process, to the happiness of neighbors.
– Longtime Mountain Parks Foundation Director Jeannie Kegebein retired and left the job in the able hands of Brenda Holmes.
– A cold snap passed through the area, and snow fell on Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley on Feb. 28
March
– The Scotts Valley High girls soccer team fell in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs, capping a stellar season.
– Scotts Valley Unified School District’s superintendent, Susan Silver, announced her retirement.
– A janitor was attacked in Boulder Creek’s Junction Park, prompting the town’s recreation district to install security cameras amid safety concerns.
– Boy Scout Brandon Caldwell built a cover for SLV High School’s high-jump pit that could withstand a tornado.
– A storm caused a massive rockslide on Nelson Road in Scotts Valley, isolating dozens of homes. A temporary roadway was built around the slide.
April
– Campbell Boy Scout Seth Duty rounded up a team to clean up debris and trash left by a large marijuana growing operation in the sand hill area of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
– Ben Lomond Park celebrated its grand reopening April 2 after extensive rebuilding and improvements.
– Scotts Valley High School freshman Cody Rakela won the SCCAL championship title in tennis after an undefeated season.
– San Lorenzo Valley High School students Conner Chesus and Alex Rinkert’s project, “Birds of the Santa Cruz Sandhills,” won best in show in the senior category at the Santa Cruz County Science Fair. Elizzabeth Hughes-Brown from Baymonte Christian School in Scotts Valley won the junior division with her project, “A Monster Problem.”
– Tragedy struck the San Lorenzo Valley when 17-year-old Kirsten Wetterhorn, a senior at SLV High, died after losing control of her vehicle on a mountain road in Boulder Creek.
May
– Felton Fire Protection District Chief Ron Rickabaugh celebrated 20 years on the job as fire chief.
– Cyclists descended on Scotts Valley, braving the drizzly weather, for the second year of the Scotts Valley Grand Prix.
– State park officials announced that Castle Rock State Park, popular with hikers and climbers alike, was slated for closure due to budgetary concerns.
– Scotts Valley High School’s music program was awarded a $5,000 grant by the Grammy Foundation.
– The San Lorenzo Valley-Scotts Valley Relay For Life raised more than $40,000 for the American Cancer Society in the second year of the event, held at Skypark.
– Scotts Valley resident Sophie Heyman posted the best time out of 271 competitors in the 1½-mile swim across the frigid bay from Alcatraz to the Presidio in San Francisco during the Alcatraz Challenge.
June
– The return of the Redwood Mountain Faire, held at Roaring Camp Railroads, was met with enthusiasm — and a lot of unseasonably rainy weather.
– Bethany University announced it would close its doors July 13 after 92 years.
– The historical Trout Farm Inn in Felton got new owners and a much-needed facelift when local entrepreneurs Kelly and Yvonne McGuire purchased the restaurant.
– The much-anticipated new Scotts Valley branch of the Santa Cruz Public Library opened its doors inside the former roller rink building.
July
– The Scotts Valley Bocce team surprised everyone, including its members, and finished second at the U.S. National Championship in Los Gatos.
– Cinelux Scotts Valley began a remodel that would be nearly completed by the end of 2011.
– Penny Weaver was hired as superintendent of the Scotts Valley Unified School District.
– The Mountain Maulers, a San Lorenzo Valley-based women’s roller derby team, formed and began practicing in Boulder Creek.
– Scotts Valley centenarian Elaine Slighte marked her 100th birthday on July 16.
– Bay Photo announced that it would purchase the old Seagate campus in Scotts Valley.
August
– San Lorenzo Valley High School wrestling coach Ken Pollastrini organized an effort to remodel the home of Kendra Kannegaard, a Scotts Valley High student who uses a wheelchair after back surgery.
– Scotts Valley High alumnus Robbie Erlin was traded from the Texas Rangers farm system to that of the San Diego Padres.
– Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District hired Hallie Greene as its district manager.
– The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied California’s request that it pay for the huge rockslide that blocked Nelson Road earlier in the year.
– Scotts Valley’s Jonathan Baldwin won the Master’s Division championship at the Professional Disc Golf World Championship.
– The roof of the Felton Covered Bridge was scheduled be replaced with money from a federal grant won by Santa Cruz County.
– The Bethany University campus in Scotts Valley was sold to Olivet University of San Francisco.
– County Supervisor Mark Stone announced his bid for California State Assembly.
– Arizona native Brent Wood won the annual Race Thru the Redwoods in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
September
– The Valley Women’s Club’s 25th annual River and Road Clean-up was named in honor of former member Al Haynes.
– A day laborer was attacked in Boulder Creek in what the sheriff’s office called a racially motivated crime.
– Felton Bible Church celebrated 50 years in the San Lorenzo Valley.
– When a fire burned a Boulder Creek home, Timmy Hatch, who is paralyzed, was rescued from the house by his brother, Isaac Hatch.
– County supervisors agreed to reshape the boundaries between the 1st and 5th supervisorial districts, splitting Scotts Valley in half along Highway 17.
– People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals founder Ingrid Newkirk spoke in Scotts Valley.
October
– A counseling center, Place of Refuge, was opened in Scotts Valley by former Bethany University employees.
– A man was accused of killing a pet parrot that he said attacked him in Boulder Creek.
– The Brookdale Inn and Spa was closed for fire code violations. It remained closed through the end of the year.
– Scotts Valley Water District celebrated its 50th anniversary.
– A severed cable cut off Internet service to AT&T customers in the San Lorenzo Valley for nearly 24 hours. The cable was accidentally cut by construction crews.
– Scotts Valley High football player Eric Murai scored two touchdowns in his return to the field after battling leukemia.
November
– A district court decided that Santa Cruz County owes Scotts Valley more than $2 million in back property taxes and $250,000 per year going forward
– KFC closed in Scotts Valley after more than 27 years.
– The San Lorenzo Valley boys and girls cross country teams won SCCAL titles. Then, Anna Maxwell and Cody Johnson won the girls and boys varsity Central Coast Section races.
– Alvin Scarborough, the owner of Scarborough Lumber and the adjacent Garden Center in Scotts Valley, died at 64.
– A&E television show “Storage Wars” filmed an episode at Scotts Valley’s Storage Depot.
December
– Scotts Valley High’s Vanessa Fraser won the Division IV California State Cross Country Championship in an upset.
– A massive windstorm that brought no rain knocked out power to the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley — for four days in some rural areas.
– More than five years after the crime, Michael McClish has been found guilty of the murder of Joanna “Asha” Veil and her unborn child.
– The shared San Lorenzo Valley high school and middle school library opened, five years after the old high school library burned down.
– A collection of land conservation groups purchased 8,500 acres of redwood trees stretching from Bonny Doon to Davenport from CEMEX.
– Ben Landauer, a San Lorenzo Valley High wrestler, won the Coast Classic wrestling tournament in the 220-pound class, competing in Aptos against wrestlers from 52 schools.
