Local News

A 61-year-old man from Ben Lomond died after his car veered off Highway 17 and smashed into a metal pole Sunday. Just before 9am, Thomas Jacobson was approaching El Rancho Drive northbound when his 1991 Honda left the road for an unknown reason. Investigators say it’s...

Ron Clements, Jr. first came to understand the significance of the current supply chain issues at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The owner of Scotts Valley Market had heard people were fighting for toilet paper at Costco, so he figured he better get...

A stalwart of local government in Scotts Valley is calling it a career this week. After more than three decades of service to the community, working under five city managers and 23 city council members, City Clerk Tracy Ferrara is retiring. “Tracy outlasted all other employees...

She was a hacker turned military operative, a surfer, a sailing instructor and a culinary artist who studied under Julia Child. Now locals are grieving the death of Judith “Mickey” Phelps, who died after battling lung cancer, saying she was one of the community’s most...

The end of the month seemed to approach faster than usual for Shirli McLaughlin. The 76-year-old Felton resident, a longtime Ben Lomond shopkeeper, was told her current rental was being sold. “It’s an important word, ‘home’—don’t you think?” she asked rhetorically, May 27. “That, and...

About 2,000 San Lorenzo Valley community members will now have access to care close to home, thanks to a new health clinic that opened at the site of a Ben Lomond historic church on Jan. 24. Where the Wee Kirk Church once welcomed parishioners to...

It was a bit of a love-in when State Senator John Laird updated the Scotts Valley City Council on the goings-on in Sacramento last week. With a slew of housing, wildfire prevention and social service bills moving through the upper chamber, there’s been a lot...

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...

Students from Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley are making important contributions to United Way research and leadership projects, says the director of community impact for the organization, which was just awarded more than $800,000 to curb youth drug use. Three or four North County...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Friday said they will not yet join five other Bay Area counties in preemptively adhering to the regional stay-at-home order announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday. Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin and Santa Clara counties will adopt...