Those driving along Scotts Valley Drive in recent weeks may have noticed a metal sculpture adorning the median island of the roadway between the Scotts Valley Middle School and Erba Lane.

Cora Belle Kramer Bell

Timothy Patrick Walsh

The County of Santa Cruz has advocated for a 20 percent reduction in water usage in the county to combat a nearly rainless winter.

Faced with looming statewide droughts due to lack of significant rainfall, some Santa Cruz County residents, water districts, and nonprofit organizations are turning to rainwater harvesting as a means of maximizing the uses of what little rain actually has come through.

Scotts Valley High School science teacher Naomi Lyall was severely injured in a snowboarding accident in Lake Tahoe yesterday.