Local News

On a drizzly Saturday afternoon in Scotts Valley, the rain came down softly but the voices of Starbucks baristas rose over the din of traffic as they staged a pro-union protest outside of their drive-thru location on Mount Hermon Road. About a dozen Starbucks employees...

A 65-year-old Scotts Valley man was pulled from a van that broke through guardrails along the Santa Cruz Wharf and plunged into 30-foot-deep ocean water Sunday morning. The driver, identified as William Westerman, was pronounced dead at the hospital, and a dog found by the...

Food Truck Friday concludes season with Halloween festivities Presented by Food Trucks A Go Go, in partnership with the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation (SVEF), the final Food Truck Friday of the year takes place on Oct. 24 from 4:30-7:30pm at Skypark, 261 Kings Village Road,...

Santa Cruz County Recorder’s Office has announced the launch of Fraud Notify, a new service that helps protect property owners from potential real estate fraud. The free, easy-to-use program allows anyone to sign up to receive an email alert whenever a document is recorded in...

Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office has released the 2024 Crop Report, announcing that the estimated gross production value of local agricultural commodities reached nearly $742 million, an increase of 13.3% over 2023. Strawberries remain the top crop in Santa Cruz County, accounting for $218.9...

St. Andrew’s to host Celtic Sunday service St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ben Lomond is inviting the community to its Celtic Sunday service on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 10am. The service will include bagpiping, reflections on Celtic spirituality and its relevance for today. Holy Communion will...

Construction crews have begun work this week on a Caltrans project aimed at installing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb ramps along Highway 9 in Ben Lomond to improve pedestrian access and safety in the area. Work started on Oct. 13 and will continue through...

October is National Pedestrian Safety Month, and Scotts Valley Police Department is urging drivers to exercise extra caution to protect pedestrians. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a pedestrian is killed every 72 minutes and injured every eight minutes in traffic crashes. In...

Banned Books Week celebration runs through Saturday Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) has joined the celebration of Banned Books Week during the first week of October, hosting events highlighting the ongoing issues of literary censorship and book bans across the country. Banned Books Week takes place...

Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control has confirmed the presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes near downtown Boulder Creek, marking the second confirmed case in the county, after a 2022 detection in South County. This aggressive, day-biting mosquito measures about 1/4-inch and is black and...