The Press Banner won two Advertising Excellence wards at the annual Better Newspapers Contest 2016, in ceremonies May 18 at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, for two special sections published in the newspaper in 2016.

The Board of Directors of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District has scheduled two special public meetings on consecutive days next week, on May 24 and May 25.As of Wedesday, May 17,  the board had given little indication what the agendas of those meetings might be.The Wednesday, May 24 meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Highlands Park Senior Center in Ben Lomond on the single topic, “Rate study.”At the last rate-study meeting, also at Highlands Park, directors said the next meeting about water rates would likely for the first time reveal proposed water rate options.The second special meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 25 in the district’s operations building in Boulder Creek. Pending issues postponed from the board’s April 20 meeting include the Lompico surcharge, a pay increase for district manager Brian Lee, legal bills, and consideration of a change in law firms.The board held another special meeting on May 18, to hold a required public hearing on plans to mitigate the impact on the Mt. Hermon June Beetle of a project to build a new storage tank off Graham Hill Road.The plan will be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for final review before the construction project can begin.The proposed project consists of replacing the existing 100,000 gallon redwood storage tank with one 527,000 gallon welded steel storage tank.

Three local Democratic members of Congress, Representatives Anna Eshoo, Jackie Speier, and Jimmy Panetta this week released a joint statement about the status of proposed changes to flight paths over their Congressional districts.In the announcement, the three members of Congress said the FAA will send its final recommendations on the Department of Transportation “within a month,” for final review and approval.Action by the FAA had been expected this month, on controversial plans to revise commercial jet flight paths over the Central Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains and the San Francisco Peninsula, to reduce noise and improve safety.The plan endorse by a split vote of local officials would shift many flights  north from the east side of Santa Cruz to the west side of Santa Cruz and the San Lorenzo Valley.In early December 2016, the final reports with recommendations of the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals and the San Francisco International Airport/Community Roundtable were sent to the FAA for review and action.“Our offices have been engaged with the new Western-Pacific Regional Administrator of the FAA and his team since early this year, and we have continued to relay the public’s interest in a response to the recommendations as soon as possible,” the Congress members said in their joint statement.“Each of us has spoken directly with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta regarding the status of the FAA’s response to the 109 recommendations contained in these reports to address the ongoing issue of aircraft noise in our Congressional Districts.” They said that Huerta confirmed that he has received a draft response from his Western-Pacific team which has completed extensive technical work.Huerta told them his staff in Washington D.C. is conducting a final review of the document at this time.“Administrator Huerta told us that the FAA is committed to this Initiative process and continuing to work on the response to the recommendations,” they said.“We have been advised that the FAA will send their completed document to the Department of Transportation within a month for final review and authorization,” the joint statement said.“It is not known at this time how long the DOT will take to authorize the release of the response; we will continue to follow-up and will release the response as soon as we receive it,” said Speier, Eshoo and Panetta.

The Ben Lomond Fire Protection District, on behalf of itself and the Boulder Creek, Felton and Zayante Fire Protection districts, has been awarded a $536,164 Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security.

Craig Wilson, Chief Deputy for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, met with residents and business owners in Boulder Creek on April 25, at a meeting sponsored by the Boulder Creek Business Association and hosted by association president ustin Acton at his Boulder Creek Pizza and Pub.During that meeting, attended by 56 residents, there was discussion of more than a dozen public safety issues.This week, Wilson, along Sgt. Brian Cleveland and Crime Analyst Joshua Pastor reported back to the community, on behalf of Sheriff Jim Hart, in a lengthy post on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.Wilson reported that Cleveland was to meet this week with the patrol deputies who work in the Boulder Creek to coordinate patrols and other activities in the downtown area and the parks beginning the week of May 22. In a month, they said they would seek feedback on the effectiveness of their efforts.Following the community meeting, Hart met with Fifth District Supervisor Bruce McPherson to determine if it is possible to open a Sheriff’s Service Center in Boulder Creek. “We are continuing to explore options,” Wilson said“At this point, we are cautiously optimistic we may be able to identify and obtain a site.”Response times in rural areas are greater than in urban areas due to geography and staffing: Santa Cruz County contains 445 square miles with a population of 129,739 residents in the unincorporated areas; a Sheriff’s Office patrol team consists of 8 deputies and a sergeant, Wilson said.In 2015 the Sheriff’s Office average response time in the county was 9:58 minutes-seconds for priority calls. For comparison, the average emergency response time by the Fire Department was 7:08 minutes-seconds.Wilson said that Hart had reduced the number of vacant deputy positions from 22 to three in less than three years.Business owners had said problems of homeless people were growing in Boulder Creek.“Being homeless is not a crime, but trespassing and other illegal conduct is,” said Wilson. He said deputies will make contacts and work with property owners to reduce trespassing in the downtown area. Businesses experiencing issues may be asked to post signs or be available for contact after hours concerning persons encountered on their property.He also said that deputies will conduct foot patrols throughout their shift and contact persons in violation of the law at Barbara Day Park and Junction Park in Boulder Creek. He also said that deputies will arrest persons intoxicated in public and take them to the Recovery Center in Santa Cruz for release when they are sober; if the arrestee is combative they will be taken to jail.  They also will work with liquor and grocery stores to reduce sales to habitual inebriates.Wilson said that anyone who has information about persons selling drugs or locations where drug sales are occurring should email Sergeant Cleveland at [email protected]. If you see drug sales occurring in public, call 471-1121 to have patrol deputies respond and investigate,” he said.The Sheriff’s Office placed a marked patrol vehicle and a speed trailer in downtown Boulder Creek this week.The California Highway Patrol will add radar units, and conduct additional DUI patrols in the Boulder Creek area. Mail theft was a special concern of Boulder Creek residents. To eliminate or reduce mail theft, Wilson encouraged people to consider: removing mail from boxes everyday; depositing outgoing mail at post office drop box; not sending cash in the mail; requesting a vacation hold if leaving town for a few days; obtaining a post office box; installing lighting to allow mailboxes to stay illuminated at night; positioning surveillance cameras to cover mailboxes.