Supervisors vote to establish Third-party Plan Check program in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has voted to establish a Third-party Plan Check (TPC) program that will give permit seekers the option to get their plans reviewed primarily by a consultant they hire, rather than county staff.
The program, proposed by Supervisors Manu Koenig...
Scotts Valley welcomes Johnson as new mayor
In a wool sport coat he’d picked up while in Manhattan, Scotts Valley outgoing Mayor Jack Dilles glanced over to see the man taking his job approaching. There was Vice Mayor Randy Johnson in a striking navy blue suit and tie.
“You look great,” Dilles...
At Lockheed Martin protest, Jewish and Palestinian voices oppose the Israeli strikes in Gaza
Pro-Palestinian activists assembled outside the secretive Lockheed Martin compound in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Nov. 10, the day after a similar demonstration had blocked the entrance to the University of California Santa Cruz campus.
The contingent was much smaller than the massive mobilizations in support...
Cliff plunge kills Texas man
A Texas man was killed Friday afternoon when his car shot off of Highway 1 near Davenport and careened over a steep cliff into the sea.
The California Highway Patrol said the 29-year-old man, from Dallas, was driving a black 2017 Subaru Outback north of...
Celebrate all things German during Oktoberfest Santa Cruz on Saturday
For 50 years, the Tyrolean Inn in Ben Lomond was the home to all things German in the San Lorenzo Valley. From schnitzel to spaetzle, the former restaurant was THE place for locals to celebrate Oktoberfest from mid-September to early October.
With the October 2022...
Bonny Doon couple takes active role designing ‘passive’ home
From their perch in their home atop the mountain in Bonny Doon, partners Tonje Wold-Switzer and Sebastian Little took in a panorama of lightning strikes that would go on to devour more than 900 homes in the region, including theirs.
They were aware a storm...
Coast Redwood High offers educational alternative
Keidi Lewis, a Spanish and history teacher at Coast Redwood High School, part of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District’s dependent charter, describes the place she works as a best-kept secret she’d like the world to know about.
That’s because the homeschool and independent...
Zayante Fire District faces uphill battle to recovery
While the storms that ravaged the San Lorenzo Valley caused millions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses, Zayante Fire Protection District’s Station One, located on East Zayante Road in Felton, was not spared.
The drainage area that normally functions as a small, babbling...
Dark comedy comes to Mountain Community Theater stage
Combine a touch of the macabre, plenty of belly laughs and some profoundly moving moments, and you’ve got the recipe for the perfect dark comedy play.
Mountain Community Theater (MCT) proudly presents “The Viewing Room” by Mark Edward Smith, directed by Peter Gelblum. The production...
Hitchcock Festival gets ready to thrill Scotts Valley
The suspense thriller is a movie genre synonymous with Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, and for him and his fans, they were a way of life.
Born in 1899 on the outskirts of East London, the man who came to be known as “The Master of...
News Briefs | Published July 4, 2025
Tree removal leads to temporary closure on Big Basin Highway
Caltrans will temporarily close a section of southbound Highway 236 (Big Basin Highway) left on...