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California State Parks has begun burning piles in various State Parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. Burning began Jan. 5, with conditions dependent on the weather, and will continue as it is safe and there is predicted weather that will facilitate smoke dispersal. Over...

Marc Shargel has taken his cameras underwater to photograph sharks, jellies and kelp forests, while on land he has made vivid images of eclipses and the great landscapes of the American West.  As a scuba diver, Shargel has been watching ecological shifts in the Central...

Arrest made in Santa Cruz County freeway shooting Detectives assigned to the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Coastal Division Investigative Services Unit, working in partnership with detectives from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), have arrested 33-year-old Raphael Shakur Abduh-Salam of Hayward, Calif., after identifying...

Just as the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District sorted out one inappropriate-behavior situation, another materialized. Trustees had voted to let teacher Eric Kahl resign, at their Sept. 14, 2021, board meeting, after learning he’d subjected female students to unwelcome sexual advances (in exchange, Kahl...

Santa Cruz County First District Supervisor Manu Koenig, in collaboration with Fourth District Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, urged an operational review of how County Public Works projects are awarded to ensure that the contractors selected pay their workers fairly and complete projects on time. The Dec....

Just before Christmas, Scotts Valley lost one of the men who was critical to shaping the city into the place it is today. It wasn’t an explorer who claimed land for a foreign government, a native warrior who resisted colonial expansion, a founding Council...

A century ago, Alba Road—between Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek—was home to Walter Ranch, which boasted 5,000 strawberry plants, the pioneering Guichard family, easy access to about a dozen saloons, and a cute one-room schoolhouse built in 1985 1895. This early educational institution was devoured...

Art History lecture features discussion on Cerveteri The first Art History lecture of 2024, sponsored by Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz, will feature “Cerveteri: Etruscan City of the Dead” on Sunday, Jan. 7, from 6:30-8:30pm, at the Cabrillo Aptos Campus, VAPA Forum, Room 1001. Art...

Scotts Valley Police officers met with an elderly adult on Dec. 12 regarding the theft, and subsequent fraudulent use, of his debit card.  The 71-year-old victim had been at the Safeway store when a female approached him saying he had dropped a $20 bill. When...

While some retirees may sail off into the sunset, California Highway Patrol Capt. Aaron Ching is taking a new approach to that old adage as he prepares to paddle into the sunset. Thanks to Neftali Espino of Honeymoon Surfboards and efforts by CHP staff, Ching...