Local News

Santa Cruz County is seeing a decline in its cannabis industry, with tax revenues falling far short of projections for the 2021-22 fiscal year. County officials say that current revenues of $1.68 million are lagging behind projections by more than $1 million, and by $1.6...

Like all school districts, San Lorenzo Valley Unified has had to make hard decisions regarding distance learning strategies and cancelled sports seasons, but the Covid-19 pandemic threw a new wrinkle into a time-honored process: the election/appointment of a new member to its board of...

In August of 2020, local artist Mary May Tartaro almost lost it all. She and her family lived on 25 acres in the San Lorenzo Valley with multiple buildings on their property, including their family home, Tartaro’s artist studio, her son’s cabin, a guest...

It was out with the old and in with the new, as Boulder Creek’s little radio station that could, KBCZ, transitioned from its longtime frequency of 90.1 FM to its new, expanded home at 89.3 FM on May 27.  Sparkling cider was poured and fans...

San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District trustees were wowed by the passionate and studied presentation by a student who was trying to persuade them to support an on-campus agricultural program. Lexi Lemus had originally shown up to speak during a public comment period of the...

The satirical comedy musical “Urinetown” based on the book by Greg Kotis was released in 2001. The musical, which satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement and municipal politics could have been written in any era, but it has become...

While June 15 marked the day California was to return to “business as usual,” according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, local residents were all over the map as far as how they said they’d react to “opening up.” On Tuesday, California ditched its system of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The union that represents some 1,600 County of Santa Cruz employees has averted a strike after hammering out a tentative agreement during all-day negotiations Monday. The agreement between Service Employees International Union Local 521 and the County came just before demonstrations that were...

Santa Cruz County’s adjusted case rate recently fell below the state’s threshold (28 per 100,000 per day) needed to reopen in-class instruction for grades K-6, health officials announced at a press conference on Feb. 4. That means local school districts could start applying to the...

As Scotts Valley Kiwanis Club member Mike Rein arrived at the organization’s big fundraiser, held this year at Siltanen Park due to renovations at Skypark, he was nervous. “We were very worried because we’d never done it at Siltanen Park,” he said. “No one wants...