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At its most recent regularly-scheduled meeting, Scotts Valley City Council heard from a consultant that it didn’t do so well on the pavement condition index (PCI), with more than a third of its roads rating “poor” or “failed.” Scotts Valley has 32.1 miles of paved...

When Fifth District Supervisor Bruce McPherson was growing up, he thought he might pursue medicine. But he was also drawn to the family business of journalism (his great-grandfather Duncan had purchased the Santa Cruz Sentinel in the 1800s). He chose to become a newspaperman. Now,...

On June 4 at the Henfling’s stage at the Redwood Mountain Faire, a local bluegrass group called Bean Creek got the all-ages crowd dancing to multi-part harmony set to fiddle and banjo notes. Three days later, Scotts Valley Council finally pulled the trigger on a...

A new report from the Civil Grand Jury takes square aim at the affordable housing crisis in Santa Cruz County and demands local planners do more to tackle the problem. The document, published June 2, finds that while municipal officials have a good understanding of...

The financial plan Scotts Valley City Manager Mali LaGoe introduced to City Council on June 7 wasn’t very flashy and acknowledged the precarious situation the community finds itself in post-pandemic, as American banks have failed and major changes have unfolded in the local economic...

Travelers will encounter a full closure of Highway 9 at Jaye’s Slide, which started June 12 and continues through June 26, as Caltrans crews make repairs to damage from winter storms. Jaye’s Slide is located on Highway 9 in Ben Lomond, near Park Way and...

Monte Sereno has voted to appoint Kirsten Powell, Scotts Valley’s top legal official, as its new city attorney. The new post in Silicon Valley, however, doesn’t mean she’s quitting her gig with the Santa Cruz County municipality. On June 6, Monte Sereno City Council voted unanimously...

Back in 1971, when Aretha Franklin crooned, “Rock steady, baby / That's what I feel now,” she was following in the footsteps of Alton Ellis & The Flames, who sang “Better get ready / Come do rock steady, ooh / You got to do...

According to “Our Old English Fairs” by R. W. Muncey, the internal trade of England once depended heavily on fairs that sprang up in the Anglo-Saxon period, welcoming merchants from Hamburg, Bruges, Strasbourg, Rouen and Bordeaux, among other far-flung locales. “Indeed many foreigners assembled among...

The County of Santa Cruz has released its 2023-24 Proposed Budget and interactive website, giving residents unprecedented digital access to County spending and revenue forecasts, line-item details and insight into how the budget connects to ongoing strategic priorities. The $1.1 billion Proposed Budget includes a...