Santa Cruz County Explainer Articles

More than 4 percent of death penalty convicts have been wrongfully convicted, data shows. But courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have failed to provide protections for the innocent facing death at the hands of the state.

The death penalty remains legal in California, but Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in 2019. Will capital punishment end in the state? Here’s what’s happening.

Voting is just the beginning. Stay connected with your representatives to make sure your government is working for you.

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

California stands as America’s agricultural powerhouse, growing half of its fruits and vegetables. Here’s how California farming has shaped the state, from the early missions to today’s “factories in the field.”

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Fears that violent crime is out of control on the streets of California cities rose after the murder of a well-known tech exec. But what are the facts and do they back up the rising moral panic about crime?

The Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education will serve as one of the anchor tenants for the $1.2 billion project in Sacramento.

Life expectancy in California exceeds all but three other states, but how long you live depends on which county you live in. They're not all equal. Why? The answer may lie in political policies.

Josh Fryday, California’s chief service officer, touts the state’s AmeriCorps agencies, which offer paid service opportunities to students and others.

State of Jefferson may be the best-known secessionist movement, but starting before California became a state, there have been at lest 220 efforts to divide the state into two pieces, or even more.

State of Jefferson is a movement by northern counties to secede from California and form a new state. Here's everything you need to know about this secessionist movement, which started in 1941 and remains strong today.

On March 10, the Pajaro River flooded the small agricultural town on its banks. Professor Dustin Mulvaney traces the turbulent history of the Central Coast’s second largest watershed.

2023’s torrential rainstorms have eased California's drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to drought than the amount of rain, and this drought isn't over yet.

In a time of unprecedented polarization, Braver Angels encourages citizens to do something completely revolutionary: listen to each other.

Shopping malls revolutionized how Americans shopped, socialized, and lived. Now, malls face an uncertain future. How did the dream of a new town square go so wrong?

America has become a mostly suburban country, and California is known for its sprawling ’burbs. But what is a suburb? It turns out California may not be as suburban as people believe.

Silicon Valley has been hit with repeated boom and bust cycles throughout its history, and layoffs are sweeping the tech industry in 2023. Here's why the Valley will survive the latest downturn, as it has all the others.

Google may be forced to sell off its $200 billion online advertising service if a new lawsuit by the federal Department of Justice claiming that Google acts as a monopoly succeeds.

During January’s destructive storms, environmental studies professor Dustin Mulvaney created a concise, riveting timeline of the San Lorenzo River.