Local News

It was just two years ago that the CZU Lightning Complex fires erupted, leaving 86,500 acres charred between the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Mateo County. More than 1,490 structures were lost, and 911 homes in Santa Cruz County burned. In Big Basin, 97% of...

Classically-trained artist Natalia Ziniak, 26, had been living in Los Angeles, but was visiting her family in western Ukraine when Russia invaded the country in February. “Unfortunately, after the first day of the war our city was bombed too,” she said. “It’s terrifying. You can’t...

In a business matter that’s highlighted a tussle between Planning Commissioners and County of Santa Cruz staff, the Commission has been handed a second chance to properly deny a cannabis cultivation operation proposal in Upper Zayante. Local residents are trying to stop it, arguing it...

According to U.S. Census data, just half of the marriages occurring from 1970 to 1984 for both men and women reached their 25th anniversary. Scotts Valley residents Darrell and Sue Yeaney have overcome those unfavorable odds—easily. They met at Westminster College in Pennsylvania in the fall...

After months of anticipation, Scotts Valley residents now have an answer to one of their burning questions. Target Corp. announced Monday it will be launching its Scotts Valley store on Sept. 25. “At approximately 55,000 square feet, the store will bring an easy, safe, and convenient...

Last week, Scotts Valley held the unboxing of the $79,873 wastewater study it ordered for itself from Kennedy/Jenks Consultants Inc., during its regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Aug. 17. But unlike a small gadget shipped from Amazon, what the elected officials do with the...

It’s been a wild ride for Scotts Valley over the past several years, as it’s watched its future pension costs skyrocket, drop down slightly and then start to rise again. Since fiscal 2013, the City’s “Unfunded Accrued Liability” (the difference between what it thinks it’ll...

The candidate nomination period for the upcoming November election closed on Aug. 12, and three people came forward to run for Scotts Valley City Council. Incumbents Derek Timm and Jim Reed are running for reelection while Allan Timms will try to unseat one of them...

Some San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District parents and students are scrambling to find a new route to school after district officials told them last week that the No. 14 “Squirrel” bus would be temporarily suspended, after Aug. 19. “It’ll be a big problem,” said...

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...