Business

Santa Cruz County is replete with points of interest and historical locations. From the Mystery Spot to Wilder Ranch to Felton Covered Bridge, the area is rich in cultural experiences that blend the past with the present, like the Brookdale Lodge. Built in 1890, with...

These days, everything is “smart.” Smartphones. Smartwatches. How about a smart laundromat? Behold The Mat in Boulder Creek, formerly the Village Wash. Run by third-generation laundromat owner Brandon Parker and his fiancé Erin Hexem, it’s the first smart laundromat in Boulder Creek, and one of...

A California energy regulator has become so vexed with troubled power provider PG&E following months of planned and unplanned outages it’s started to crackdown. In a Nov. 1 letter to Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chair Bruce McPherson, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) President...

Massage therapy dates back as far as 3000 BCE in India, where this ancient sacred healing system migrated to China, Southeast Asia and Egypt. Then, Japan did its twist, known as Shiatsu; the Greeks and Romans added herbs and oils. Hippocrates, the Father of...

Scotts Valley is a glimpse of Americana right here in Santa Cruz County. From hotels and restaurants to Fourth of July parades and banners of high school graduates adorning Scotts Valley Drive, the city seems to bend and flex with the times. Visitors can...

The Scotts Valley Planning Commission voted unanimously to allow a 16-unit condominium project “The Encore at 4104” to move forward at its Aug. 12 meeting. In an interview with the Press Banner, Commissioner Steve Horlock said he was pleased with the look of the 35-foot,...

Inside the Shell station at Scotts Valley Drive and Mt. Hermon Road, right next to the ATM there’s a similar-looking cryptocurrency dispenser where a person can buy the Ethereum cryptocurrency “Ether” with cash. But if a person takes Glen Canyon Road under the freeway and...

Last year challenged us, not just globally and nationally, but, especially, locally. We know what happened here with the businesses shutting down and stay-at-home demands. Compounded by our local fires, we witnessed firsthand how small local towns band together and support their own. I...

Maybe the “sense of abandonment” felt by locals due to Sutter Health’s move to nix its Scotts Valley urgent care site wouldn’t be so profound had officials included the community in its decision-making? It was one of many questions and pointed suggestions shared during a...

Chantal Vaughan was at work as a manager at Felton Feed & Pet Supply on May 23 when her world was shaken—figuratively and literally—by a driver who lost control of his car and careened into the front of her store, leaving shattered glass and...