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Santa Cruz County recently received some unsettling, although not surprising, news that we are the most expensive rental housing market in the United States. In rankings compiled by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Santa Cruz-Watsonville market topped even San Francisco, San Jose, Salinas...

Since 1977, Community Bridges has been providing care and support to residents around Santa Cruz County, including the San Lorenzo Valley. Mountain Community Resources (MCR), the local branch of the social services juggernaut, has been a compassionate partner within SLV, and has offered residents...

Arjun Thevar, 9, was beaming brighter than the high-noon sunshine. The Vine Hill Elementary School student had been transported back in time, to the 1800s, as part of a field trip to the Hiram D. Scott house just down the hill from City Hall on...

Santa Cruz County has been the backdrop for various horror movies, most famously “Lost Boys,” “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” and, more recently, Jordan Peele’s “Us.” But its deepest connection to Hollywood involves the ultimate master of the macabre. Back in the 1940s, director Alfred...

A garden is the perfect example of the circle of life. A garden is nature's way of taking and giving back life to the earth. A garden represents the infinite nature of energy. I was reminded of this when a friend lost her dog to...

On Wednesday morning, a Scotts Valley Fire District crew headed out on a medical call. Inside the Erba Lane station, which was missing some of its exterior façade, as firefighters carry out a repair project to fix winter storm damage, the new fire chief...

Free yard waste disposal for 5th District residents Supervisor Monica Martinez’s Office has announced a no-cost yard waste disposal program for residents of the San Lorenzo Valley and unincorporated Scotts Valley areas. To support community home hardening and wildfire fuel reduction, residents can dispose of yard...

Students in the San Lorenzo Valley (SLV) have firsthand knowledge of the devastation fire can leave behind. Fire safety and fire prevention in their community, now more than ever, are a top priority. Thanks to a federal grant, the community has access to specialized education...

Last Christmas, the Ziniak family left their home in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, and headed on a fun trip across the Carpathian Mountains. When the Russian invasion of their country began in February, Vasyl stayed behind while his wife fled to Poland—and then to the San Lorenzo...

Court documents in a lawsuit brought by a 7-year-old Brook Knoll Elementary School student against the Scotts Valley Unified School District show the superintendent considered calling Child Protective Services (CPS) on the parents of the boy, who was protesting the District’s Covid-19 control measures. They...