Local News

The San Lorenzo Valley Water District is in the process of replacing three undersized and leaking redwood tanks in Lompico, as well as replacing 3.3 miles of pipeline that were deemed inefficient, ineffective (due to age and size) and undersized for fire flow in...

Realtor Robert Aldana of Keller Williams Realty recalls with clarity the moment the tide changed for Scotts Valley’s real estate market.  Earlier this year, Aldana finalized the sale of a home near Skypark for about $1.4 million—signaling a major shift in the industry for the...

Kombucha aficionados, beer guzzlers and funk fans take note, Saturday marks the in-person return of the Santa Cruz County Hop N’ Barley Beer Festival at Skypark in Scotts Valley. Felton resident Patrick Grube, who started the event 13 years ago, says he’s looking forward to...

A slate of bands brought hardcore and punk energy to the Saloon Room at the storied Brookdale Lodge last Friday. Despite the growling vocals, thrashing sonics and aggressively swirling bodies in the circle pit, the Aug. 11 event—featuring Mondo Chaga, Curb Creeps, Bastard Machine and...

It costs big bucks to ensure one of life’s essential components is fit for human consumption. And on May 25, local officials and media got to taste the $3.5 million upgrade results to the Scotts Valley Water District’s Orchard Run Water Treatment Plant, leaving...

After having supported setting aside funding for local nonprofits, during the Scotts Valley budget process earlier this year, Councilmember Randy Johnson joined Vice Mayor Jim Reed in opposing the move during a test run for regular in-person City Council meetings, Oct. 19. In a 3-2...

Ember Flash Aerospace, a Santa Cruz County company with deep ties in the San Lorenzo Valley, has been named a semifinalist in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition, a years-long challenge meant to inspire solutions that will stamp-out the possibility of extreme forest fires. Zach Ackemann, who...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to redistribute some 3,400 residents—the majority in the northern reaches of the county—as part of the county’s decennial redistricting process. Under the plan, 491 people in Watsonville’s Apple Hill District will shift from...

When Covid-19 began to sweep the U.S.—and brought with it an economic recession—Cabrillo College officials expected a jump in enrollment that typically comes with a battered economy. But the college is now seeing a significant drop in those numbers, which it pins on the double...