News

Inside the Shell station at Scotts Valley Drive and Mt. Hermon Road, right next to the ATM there’s a similar-looking cryptocurrency dispenser where a person can buy the Ethereum cryptocurrency “Ether” with cash. But if a person takes Glen Canyon Road under the freeway and...

On Oct. 27 Santa Cruz County entered the Orange Tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan. The lowered rate of positive tests has enabled many more businesses to open with precautions, such as indoor waxing and bookstores, and increased capacity at restaurants, movie theaters...

Santa Cruz resident Daniel Lamothe, a 38-year-old firefighting trainee and musician, has died after a mishap during a firefighter training program in the San Lorenzo Valley last Sunday. During the Feb. 19 session at the Ben Lomond Training Center, the volunteer became “medically distressed,” Santa...

Scotts Valley High senior defensive lineman Andre Nice recorded a sack and seven tackles for the Falcons in a 28-0 shutout win over rival San Lorenzo Valley High in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play on March 27. The Falcons remained undefeated at 3-0 and...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to extend the emergency declarations that came in the wake of the CZU August Lightning Complex fires. The County first proclaimed a local emergency related to the fires on Aug. 19...

A district court judge has allowed a UC Santa Cruz administrator’s unlawful search lawsuit against the City of Scotts Valley and its police force to proceed. Plaintiff Darin Matthews named four Scotts Valley officers—along with a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy—as defendants in the action,...

Frightened of a blank calendar this Halloween? Never fear. There are many fun and Covid-19-safe opportunities this year.  According to a 1,000-parent survey conducted by See’s Candies, a little over 50 percent of families plan to stay in this Halloween, with a movie. However, for...

Thomas the Tank Engine had just finished carrying one of his last groups of passengers from Roaring Camp Railroads along the San Lorenzo River and back. Friday, July 29, was his first day of the first of two three-day weekends of full schedules of 30-minute rides for his fans.Then the Really Useful Engine got the call from CalFire dispatchers: They needed his help to bring an injured swimmer from the Garden of Eden swimming hole a couple miles down the track to an evacuation helicopter.CalFire would say later that the track – and Thomas – offered the fastest and most direct route for the rescue crew in the rugged mountain terrain.Thomas was up the task, taking the rescuers to the riverbank spot, then carrying them, with an injured 22-year-old woman, back to Roaring Camp. A rescue vehicle took her from there to a nearby helicopter landing area at Henry Cowell Park where Stanford Life Flight carried her to Stanford Medical Center for treatment of a head injury sustained in a fall at the popular swimming spot. She was not identified.Roaring Camp estimated that up to 30,000 people would visit Thomas and related activities on each of these special weekends. Felton has a population of about 4,000.The Thomas train is to return to Roaring Camp for two weekends in October.Hundreds of workers on these special weekends who are affiliated with local non-profits donate their wages to their organizations.They include Santa Cruz County Friday Night Live, Valley Elite Cheer, San Lorenzo Valley Rotary Club, Girl Scouts of California Central Coast, and Sunrise House. The groups raise from several hundred dollars to up to $6,000 each.

Nine months after he moved into the Brookdale Senior Living long-term care facility in Scotts Valley, Kermit Sveen was hit with a 17.6% rent increase. He found the notice, dated Oct. 21, in his mailbox on Nov. 3. “The day that the letter arrived was another...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to hire an independent auditor for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office who would investigate such issues as citizen complaints and use of force. The move followed a report by...