News

Step back in time at Agricultural History Project's Second Saturday event The Agricultural History Project Center and Museum invites the community to its Second Saturday event on Aug. 10, from 11am-3pm, at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., in Watsonville. This month, the...

A 76-year-old Davenport pedestrian was killed Dec. 16 after she was struck by a fellow community member’s vehicle at Swanton Road, just east of Pacific Coast Highway. The incident occurred around 3pm as a 77-year-old male driver, also from Davenport, was reversing a 2002 Ford...

Most of us had hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would be slightly diminished by now so that we could resume our regularly scheduled summer plans of days at the beach, evenings around the fire pit and weekends with friends and families. We had vacations planned, tires rotated in preparation, and road trips mapped out with a beeline away from the reality of coronavirus. I dare say a lot of us are damned disappointed right now. Coronavirus cases are surging, not plummeting, across the United States, and California is looking the pandemic square in the eye as the numbers of infected continue to rise in the wake of canceled plans and stymied getaways. The 4th of July celebrations in our towns have been scrapped due to the pandemic, and that leaves local leaders looking for innovative ways to celebrate the red, white and blue while remaining socially distant and observing statewide regulations to minimize the spread. Luckily, we’re blessed with some whip-smart community folks who are thinking outside the box and endeavoring to make the best out of a less-than celebratory situation. Here’s what to look for when it comes to marking Independence Day in the valleys. Scotts Valley: Tune in for a virtual 4th of July parade and watch family, friends, sports teams, local businesses and the partially inebriated deck out their rides, horses, wagons and relatives in epic fashion. View the event online at myscottsvalley.com and the city’s social media sites including the following Facebook pages (you can quit FB after the 4th): City of Scotts Valley 4th of July, the Scotts Valley Chamber and the Press Banner. The parade will be archived for on-demand viewing throughout the entire month of July! Be sure to step outside on the 4th to watch the flyover in town from 2-3pm. Boulder Creek: The Boulder Creek Business Association has wrested the town’s plans to celebrate the 4th from the grips of the virus, and is planning to stream the Virtual 4th of July Parade and Concert on their Facebook page beginning at 10am. Contributors were asked to submit videos that panned from left to right as they will be set to a pre-planned soundtrack of spirit. Entertainment will also include music by Mira Goto, The Four Stringers, Brad Martin, Aki Kumar Band, Wildcat Mountain Ramblers and Chas Crowder. And as for a tradition that dates over 100 years? BCBA President Justin Acton is hoping to create some memories. “Our town has been doing this for so long, and I’m inspired that some important dignitaries have submitted videos, pictures and messages for our residents. We’ll have the Boulder Creek Museum submitting some great historical information, our world-famous Jazzercise dancers have a great routine planned, and the whole event will be hosted by KBCZ’s station manager Tina Davey. “The 4th of July is always such a huge community event in town—I’m looking forward to seeing how we capture that spirit.”  Other parades and events such as the World’s Shortest Parade in Aptos, the fireworks over Skypark and the pancake breakfasts hosted by Boulder Creek Fire and Ben Lomond Fire have all been scuttled by the virus. The pancake breakfasts are not only community events, but also fundraisers for the volunteer departments, and these cancellations negatively impact their bottom line. If you’d like to show your support, donations for the Boulder Creek Fire Department can be sent to 13230 Central Avenue, Boulder Creek, 95006. To help fill Ben Lomond’s coffers, donations can be mailed to 9430 Highway 9, Ben Lomond, 95005. Keep your mask on and your sparklers away from the cats, and we will see you online. 

A small fire ignited this afternoon on the corner of Conference Drive and Mount Hermon Road just outside of Scotts Valley.

Santa Cruz County is moving forward with a pilot program in a fire-thrashed area of the coast that would allow displaced residents to rebuild off-grid dwellings that otherwise wouldn’t be up to code. The Limited-Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings plan slashes red tape for some...

A progressive approach to teaching and leading youth into the culture of their future is what the SLVLA is all about. SLVA is a learning facility that provides an After School Leadership Program for the first through the fifth grades. The academy is targeted to open August 25.Mikey Henderson and Mike Herzog are the developers of this innovative program that features S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) projects. Henderson has a passion for technology and all that relates to it. He relishes the idea of discovery and how to foster that attitude in others. Being a software developer, he knows the value of involving children in an innovative culture that will ultimately prepare them with the mind-set and imaginative approach to problem solving and the challenges that characterize an increasingly technological world.SLVLA fosters the skill set necessary for successfully managing project-based learning techniques by teaching the fundamentals of creativity, which is the stuff from which technical solutions arise.Herzog, previous co-owner of Santa Cruz Soccer Inc., has spent the two years in an afternoon leadership program for San Lorenzo Elementary. He will lead F.A.S.T. (Fitness and Sports Training) activities for SLVLA. Herzog developed a leadership training program that was designed to teach the basics of coaching to older campers. That accomplishment formed the basis of a passion for leadership training.Henderson and Herzog teamed up to create the program taught at SLVLA. The two believe that developing personalized learning paths is founded in the outcomes learned by asking questions, experimenting and satisfying curiosity about a subject matter. Their program is designed to make sure that students have something to learn and something to contribute. A comprehensive learning experience is one that empowers students to develop the strength in all subjects and results in becoming excellent communicators and collaborators with outstanding critical thinking skills.Herzog said “my partner, Mikey Henderson, and I are opening up the San Lorenzo Valley Leadership Academy right across from the SLVHS.” They open August 25. An open house is planned two weeks earlier.For more information, call 421-1060