Local News

From the red sign with twin suns beaming their gratitude toward hand-painted white letters spelling “THANKS FIREFIGHTERS” by a fire-survivors camp in Davenport, to the wildland battle scene depicted on the side of a beer distributor doing the rounds in Felton, wildfire danger remains...

Continued decreases in case and positivity rates have Santa Cruz County on track to enter a less restrictive tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan on March 31, County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said at Thursday’s weekly virtual press conference. According to data released...

When the Santa Cruz Mountains caught fire in August after a lightning storm passed through the Central Coast and greater Bay Area, almost every community was forced to evacuate the area. Many of those evacuees were left wondering whether their homes and businesses—their life’s...

The Scotts Valley City Council will weigh whether to halt “targeted picketing” within 300 feet of a particular person’s residence at its Feb. 17 meeting. At the Feb. 3 City Council meeting, City Attorney Kirsten Powell introduced Ordinance No. 197, which prohibits picketing within a...

Local ice cream chain The Penny Ice Creamery has announced it will be joining mixed-use development The Hangar at Skypark in Scotts Valley. They hope to win over the taste buds of local residents through the 262 Mount Hermon Rd. site, as they have...

The Scotts Valley Kiwanis Club on Feb. 12 presented Norma Garcia, the owner of Auntie Mame’s, with a $950 check to replace outdoor canopies destroyed by a windstorm. According to Kiwanis President Ray Gorski a member reached out to Garcia after the Jan. 18 storm....

On Feb. 13, the Scotts Valley Economic Recovery Task Force will host its next event, #ScottsValleyLove from 10am to 6pm. Much like the organization’s holiday open house, residents will pick up goodie bags and visit many businesses throughout town, earning treats and trinkets at each...

After nearly two years out of commission, Big Basin Redwoods State Park—the oldest State Park in California—is about to open to the public, once again. It was closed after being ravaged by the CZU Lightning Complex fire, (97% destroyed), but on July 22, the proverbial...

She was a hacker turned military operative, a surfer, a sailing instructor and a culinary artist who studied under Julia Child. Now locals are grieving the death of Judith “Mickey” Phelps, who died after battling lung cancer, saying she was one of the community’s most...

Santa Cruz resident Daniel Lamothe, a 38-year-old firefighting trainee and musician, has died after a mishap during a firefighter training program in the San Lorenzo Valley last Sunday. During the Feb. 19 session at the Ben Lomond Training Center, the volunteer became “medically distressed,” Santa...