Santa Cruz County Local News: Resilience

Still rebuilding one year later, Pajaro River Levee repairs on track.

Jerry Castro has lived in the same house on Jonathan Street in Pajaro all his life. His parents owned it before him, he then bought it off of them. His children and their children were also raised there. Now, more than a year after the Pajaro flood threatened to wash decades of memories away, Castro feels lucky.

Julie Horner guides the reader through a visit through the 522-acre park still recovering from the Martin and CZU fires.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, recently convened a community roundtable on the expansion of broadband and cellular service in Boulder Creek.

Santa Cruz city leaders on Wednesday said 121 unhoused people moved into permanent housing in the city since 2022, and hundreds more were served by homeless service programs. They also renewed calls for more city money to address homelessness because millions in one-time funds are expected to run out in July.

Supervisors and resident cite public safety in bid to keep their copper landlines. AT&T claims that people living in rural areas where there are no other viable options will be able to keep their landlines.

In January AT&T applied to the California Public Utilities Commission to withdraw service to its landline customers. Many in the Santa Cruz Mountains depend on landline service during emergencies.

Santa Cruz Local now provides direct comparisons of candidates’ positions on key issues. Plus, news on the Capitola Wharf.

The future of the Affordable Connectivity Program, a federal program that provides internet access to low-income families, is in limbo. Unless Congress steps in to fund it, over 23 million households will be cut off from the program by April of this year.

KBCZ’s broadcast reach at the moment on 89.3 FM is to all of the San Lorenzo Valley including Lompico, Scotts Valley, Paradise Park, and parts of Santa Cruz.