County homelessness plan sets goal of more than 700 new units by 2023
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a four-part strategy to deal with the county’s homeless crisis, an ambitious three-year plan that has the goal of reducing by 50 percent the number of households experiencing homelessness by 2024.
The...
Scotts Valley Starts Nonprofit Grant Program
Nonprofits monitoring the rollout of Scotts Valley’s community grant program had positive words for the City as it put $50,000 up for grabs.
Speaking during public comment at the Aug. 3 council meeting, Clay Kempf, the executive director of the Seniors Council of Santa Cruz...
Deputy Sheriffs’ Association makes record donation for memorial park
SOQUEL—The Santa Cruz County Deputy Sheriffs' Association (DSA) has offered a $100,000 “challenge” grant to help fund a memorial for Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, who was killed on duty on June 6, 2020.
The grant is the largest donation in the organization’s history.
The DSA now...
Obituary
Jose Rafael Santiago (Col. U.S. Army ret.)-320“A light from our family is gone, a voice we loved so much is stilled, and God who has loved him best has taken him home.” The Santiago family mourns the loss of Jose Santiago, who at80 years old, passed away at a San Leandro Hospital following a lengthy battle with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).Born in Puerto Rico, Jose earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. He came to the United States in 1960 and served in the US Army completing two tours in Vietnam. He retired following a combined 30 years in active and reserve capacities, earning the rank of Colonel.Upon completion of his service to his country, Jose enjoyed a career as a real estate agent and office manager in Santa Cruz and real estate at Cabrillo College.He was a loving and devoted husband and father, with many hobbies, civic responsibilities, and affiliations that he cherished. In Boulder Creek, he was a Boy Scout and Cub Scout Leader, San.Jose is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Juliana Santiago of Boulder Creek, his children: son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Adrienne Santiago of Reno, NV; daughter and son-in-law Andrea and Frank Cardini of Watsonville, CA; son and daughter-in-law David and Maurine Santiago of Auburn, CA; and daughter and son-in-law Teresa and Jeff Kindred, of Ben Lomond, CA and eight grandchildren.A mass will be held at San Agustin Catholic Church (257 Glenwood Drive) in Scotts Valley beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday September 5, 2015. Committal Services will be private. Any kind acts of charity can be made in his memory to Knights of Columbus Council #15705 of San Agustin Catholic Church of Scotts Valley or to help find a cure for ALS @ www.alsa.org. Share a memory or your favorite prayers with his family through the website @ www.pacificgardenschapel.com
Report Spells Out Scotts Valley’s Options for Wastewater System Upgrade
Last week, Scotts Valley held the unboxing of the $79,873 wastewater study it ordered for itself from Kennedy/Jenks Consultants Inc., during its regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Aug. 17.
But unlike a small gadget shipped from Amazon, what the elected officials do with the...
Accident stalls Highway 17 traffic
A late-morning accident on Highway 17 at Glenwood Drive stalled northbound cars for hours on Monday.
Scotts Valley Police arrest elder fraud suspects
Scotts Valley Police officers met with an elderly adult on Dec. 12 regarding the theft, and subsequent fraudulent use, of his debit card.
The 71-year-old victim had been at the Safeway store when a female approached him saying he had dropped a $20 bill. When...
Boulder Creek Residents Weigh Parks District Parcel Tax
San Lorenzo Valley residents in Boulder Creek are gearing up to vote in a referendum on whether to pay $36 annually per parcel to support the Boulder Creek Recreation and Parks District.
The capital improvement measure that will show up on the Nov. 8 ballot...
NEWSBRIEFS
Agape Dance Academy becomes a non-profitScotts Valley, CA. Agape Dance Academy is announces that they have received approval as a non-profit as recognized by the IRS. This is exciting news as Agape Dance fundraising resources will help fund good works in the community, create stunning performances including beautiful costumes, guest artists, technical support and more. Our dedicated dancers get to enjoy a professional dance experience locally while bringing beautiful art to our community.Recent graduate, Zac Egner, has been invited to stay full time at Rock School this year on a full tuition scholarship!For more information, contact Melanie Useldigner at 359-0850 [email protected] Health Officer reminds parents to vaccinate their kidsCalifornia Department of Public Health Director and State Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith reminds parents to make sure that their children are up-to-date on required vaccinations before the school year begins.“Parents should put vaccinations on their back-to-school checklists,” Dr. Smith said. “Vaccinations are the best way to ensure that students are protected and to stop the spread of measles and other serious diseases.”Children are required to have received certain vaccinations in order to attend school or child care in California. Dr. Smith urges parents to make an appointment now with their health care provider to help protect themselves and their families.Cost should not be a barrier for childhood vaccinations. If health insurance does not cover the recommended vaccinations, children may qualify for free vaccines under the national Vaccines for Children Program. Talk to your doctor or local health department for more information.On June 30, 2015, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 277, which does not change procedures for the fall of 2015. Under this new law only medical exemptions to required immunization will be allowed for students entering school after January 1, 2016.To learn more about the law and the immunizations required for child care and schools, visit shotsforschool.orgNotice of Meeting to Adopt Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015/2016 by the Felton Fire Protection DistrictNotice is hereby given that on Monday, the 14th of September, 2015, 7 p.m. at 131 Kirby Street, Felton, and the Board of Directors of the Felton Fire Protection District will meet for the purpose of adopting the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015/2016 of said District.Notice is further given that the preliminary budget of said District has been adopted and is available between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 131 Kirby Street, Felton, for review by interested persons.Notice is further given that at the time and place above designated for the meeting to adopt the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015/2016, any person may appear and be heard regarding the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2015/2016.BOARD OF DIRECTORSFelton Fire Protection District335-4422 Comcast offers new levels of service in the Santa Cruz MountainsNew programming and Internet offerings will be available to residential homes and businesses which are Comcast customers in the following areas: Aptos, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon, Brookdale, Davenport, Felton, La Selva Beach, Lompico, southern Los Gatos, Mount Herman, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Seascape, and Soquel. Residential customers in these areas can simply re-start their modems to immediately start enjoying the faster speeds."Santa Cruz is one our most exciting and diverse communities and we're thrilled to make a substantial investment there that demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bring customers more choices for their media and technology needs," said Elaine Barden, Regional Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Comcast California. "We continue to innovate and increase Internet speeds as customer demands evolve, and we will continue to offer a wide range of communications options and TV networks to fit the diversity of our customers."In that spirit of continuous innovation, Comcast is increasing the speeds of two of its Xfinity Internet tiers at no additional cost to customers in the Santa Cruz area. The Performance tier speeds will jump from 16 Megabits per Second (Mbps) download speed and 2 Mbps upload speed (16/2), to 75 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload (75/5). The Blast tier speeds will also significantly increase, leaping from 25/4 to 150/10.Comcast also announced that it is launching four new tiers of Internet service for commercial business customers. In addition to the previously offered Starter (16/3) and Deluxe 50 (50/10) tiers, Comcast Business will now offer Deluxe 25/10, Deluxe 75/15, Deluxe 100/20, and Deluxe 150/20 speed packages to small and medium businesses in the area."By tripling the speeds and the number of Internet tier options for local Santa Cruz businesses, we're providing an even more robust suite of services that allows organizations of all sizes to match their communications needs," said Ted Girdner, regional vice president of Comcast Business. "Our continued commitment to bring businesses more choices for high-capacity network connectivity helps them lay the foundation for economic development and business growth."
Local Candidates Set for Nov. 8 Election
The candidate nomination period for the upcoming November election closed on Aug. 12, and three people came forward to run for Scotts Valley City Council.
Incumbents Derek Timm and Jim Reed are running for reelection while Allan Timms will try to unseat one of them...
News Briefs | Published Sept. 12, 2025
Fun run, emergency preparedness fair set for Saturday
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the City of Santa Cruz will be hosting Race the Wave, a 3K...