Local News

Disgruntled ex-Scotts Valley Police Department officer David Ball has launched a new lawsuit against the city of Scotts Valley, Police Chief Steve Walpole, Jr. and his former trainee Pascale Wowak, claiming defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It’s the third action Ball, who was...

Chantal Vaughan was at work as a manager at Felton Feed & Pet Supply on May 23 when her world was shaken—figuratively and literally—by a driver who lost control of his car and careened into the front of her store, leaving shattered glass and...

Mountain Community Theater’s (MCT) Peter Gelblum knows a good story when he hears one. Whether it’s one of loss or perseverance, success or struggle, Gelblum is a student of the human condition, and he uses that insight to help shape his actors into storytellers...

Scotts Valley is falling behind when it comes to meeting its state-mandated housing goals. Between 2014 and 2023, California expects 140 housing units to be built in the Santa Cruz County suburb. And while the city has already exceeded that by permitting 147 housing units...

Santa Cruz County will send out a request for proposals (RFP) for an Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that would have independent oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday. Assembly Bill 1185, a state law passed in 2020, allows...

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...

SCOTTS VALLEY—Scotts Valley elected officials listened with rapt attention as influential urban planner Bob Gibbs gave them “a really short version of my Harvard class,” during a study session before the June 2 City Council meeting. As he pulled the cover back on what...

State Senator John Laird on Jan. 18 introduced Senate Bill 850 (SB 850), a bill to ensure families of fallen officers receive survival benefits regardless of family structure.  The impetus for the bill was founded in the deaths of law enforcement officers in the county...

A 17-year-old San Lorenzo Valley High School junior was disappointed to learn, last week, that her passionate advocacy for a 4-H program on campus wouldn’t get the blessing of school district administrators. Speaking to the Press Banner just before the Jan. 19 San Lorenzo Valley...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on May 11 voted unanimously to delay a 25-cent fee for disposable cups at businesses in the unincorporated parts of the county until January 2022. County officials crafted the ordinance to reduce the amount of disposable cups that...