The Mountain Gardener | Get Your Bare-Root Edibles Now
The other day I visited three local nurseries to see what’s new in their bare root edible selection. In addition to the classics, I found a ton of new varieties for containers and smaller home gardens.
Now is the time to add ornamentals and edibles...
Valley Churches United executive director announces retirement
After a decade of service as the executive director of Valley Churches United, Lynn Robinson has announced that she will be retiring from that position this fall.
During her tenure at the nonprofit year-round food pantry, Robinson valued the very important work of providing support...
Parkinson’s boxing class a lifeline for seniors with disease
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...
Weekend fires quelled before they could hurt structures and cows nearby
On Sunday afternoon, inmate firefighters battled flames that spread to just over 2 acres alongside their counterparts with Santa Cruz County, Cal Fire, Central Fire, Santa Cruz City and Bonny Doon fire departments—with help from California Highway Patrol officers—just north of Davenport, which was...
Laird announces state senate re-election campaign
Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) has announced the launch of his re-election campaign for the 17th District, which includes Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, as well as much of San Luis Obispo County.
Laird was first elected to the California State Senate in...
Scotts Valley Council eases ADU rules, expands junior unit options
They didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, but when it came down to updating their secondary residence policy, Scotts Valley City Council opted to allow larger accessory dwelling units (ADUs) than required to incentivize building these further away from the property line...
San Lorenzo Valley High School junior named Youth Poet Laureate for 2025-26
The definition of a poem is, “A piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanzaic structure.”
Remove the stuffiness of the wording...
Scotts Valley Multicultural Fair provides glimpse into far-flung locales
The third annual Scotts Valley Multicultural Fair once again provided a venue where people of all ages could learn about different cultures last Saturday.
Children participated in a global fashion show, food trucks sold a range of cuisines and performers presented music and dance styles...
RTC seeks input for project aimed at adapting county transportation network for climate resiliency
Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is seeking community input through an online survey on its Climate Adaptation Vulnerability Assessment and Priorities Report (CAVA) project.
The RTC, the County of Santa Cruz Department of Community Development and Infrastructure and the Santa Cruz County Office...
Sex abuse case against former SLVUSD admin paused
Just weeks before the civil child sex abuse trial was set to begin, it was canceled.
Ned Hearn, the former SLVUSD teacher and administrator who faces a lawsuit by a student swimmer he coached in the ’90s in Dixon, Calif.—who says they had a sexual...
News Briefs | Published Aug. 29, 2025
Supervisor Martinez to speak to North County Dems
Fifth District Supervisor Monica Martinez will be the guest speaker for the Democratic Club of North Santa...