Desperately Seeking Chocolate has released a new chocolate sauce this holiday season, called mocha latte fudge sauce. The Brookdale-based chocolate company sells four types of chocolate sauce, including original hot fudge, ginger-habañero fudge and mint fudge.

Kiwanis Club of Scotts Valley

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office

Someone reported seeing a mountain lion in a tree-filled backyard of a Scotts Valley home early Christmas morning, according to the Scotts Valley Police Department.

Christmas tree recycling

By historical standards, the year 2009 will likely be remembered most as President Obama’s first in the Oval Office. Congress passed stimulus packages of all shapes and sizes, and the nation’s military presence in Afghanistan increased in an effort to quell rising violence there. But in the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley, the ebb and flow of the economy seemed to drive the news this year. Here’s a look back on the year’s biggest events in our community.