Fewer people are staying in Santa Cruz County hotels, according to the Santa Cruz Conference and Visitors Council, which reported a decrease in hotel room occupancy and average daily rates during the first half of 2009.
The San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, which buses about 400 students to and from school every day, absorbed a 20 percent cut to its state-funded transportation budget, followed by shortened hours for drivers and consolidated routes.
Homeless veterans will gain access to dental care, legal aid and identification cards at the three-day South Bay Stand-Down in Boulder Creek next week.