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San Lorenzo Valley High School cheerleading coach DeAnna Heywood went out with a bang. In Heywood’s final event as coach, her competitive cheerleading squad performed all-but-perfectly over two days to win a cheerleading national championship March 26 through 28 in Anaheim.

San Lorenzo Valley High wrestler Cody Rodebaugh started his march to a second straight state title with an easy win at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League finals Thursday, Feb. 11.

The City of Santa Cruz Water Department announced that because of this week’s storm, the Loch Lomond Reservoir in Lompico filled to capacity early Wedesday and began spilling into Newell Creek.Newell Creek flows through Ben Lomond to the San Lorenzo River. Loch Lomond Reservoir spills at 577.3 feet elevation. At this time in January 2016 the lake was at 558.70 feet elevation. The reservoir was reopened to public recreation last March after being closed in October 2013 because of low water levels.Loch Lomond Reservoir is the City of Santa Cruz’s only drinking water reservoir and holds 2.8 billion gallons of water, or about one year’s worth of drinking water for city residents.Though much of the state continues to suffer from drought, Santa Cruz County received normal rainfall in 2016, which filled the reservoir and provided relief from two consecutive years of water rationing.“Having a full reservoir is a great start to the new year,” said Rosemary Menard, Santa Cruz water director. “Though it’s too early to tell how this water year will be classified, whether it will be a normal or wet year, we are off to a promising start.”

In 1989, Northern California was rocked by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which was centered in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz. The 6.9 quake was responsible for $6 billion in damages (close to $40 billion in today’s dollars), 63 deaths...