Santa Cruz County Local News

Although the initiative process — proposing new laws via ballot measures — has been in California’s constitution for more than a century, its use was fairly uncommon until the 1970s.

In an announcement on July 29, Cabrillo College announced it's seeking nominations for the seat vacated by Martha Victoria Vega who has resigned.

The Paradise Park Masonic community nestled among the trees beside the San Lorenzo River at the outskirts of Santa Cruz is celebrating its founding in 1924.

The official Watch Duty incident page for the massive Park Fire burning in Butte and Tehama Counties.

On July 26, the City of Santa Cruz announced it had received an almost $8 million grant as part of a larger $71.1 million grant awarded to the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

“This doesn’t build public trust. Where is the evidence?” said Jeff Wenninger, a former Los Angeles Police lieutenant who oversaw use of force investigations.

When California emerged from its colonial beginnings nearly two centuries ago and began coalescing into a distinct society, its towns and villages tended to be located either on navigable rivers, such as Sacramento, or around the 21 missions that Spanish explorer priests had established, such as San Diego.

In his 2018 campaign, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would create 500,000 new apprenticeships in the decade after taking office. So far, the state has registered more than 180,000 new apprenticeships. Many of them are firefighters.

In their July 24 meeting, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees approved a deputy sheriff to be assigned to the Aptos High campus.

The City and County of Santa Cruz have signaled no change to their respective "service oriented" homeless policies.

After years of delay, a new California regulation to protect indoor workers from extreme heat is now in effect.

The Scotts Valley Fire Protection District board of directors approved a $24.5 million bond measure to go before voters in the November election, to replace Fire Station 1 on Erba Lane.

In partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Dominican Hospital is participating in a new physician residency program.

The first two human cases of West Nile virus this season were reported in Yuba and Stanislaus Counties.

Santa Cruz County Health officials report that COVID numbers in the county remain high.

What happens when voters take to the ballot to thumb their nose at state housing law? Courts haven’t offered a clear answer.

California Forever’s announcement July 22 that it has decided to pull a ballot measure that would have let voters decide on a controversial planned city in rural Solano County drew swift reaction from political leaders and opponents.

Following a report released the previous week by Solano County citing billions of dollars in costs and a host of other issues, California Forever pulled their initiative from the November ballot.

There never was much of a chance that California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be running for president this year, even if President Joe Biden were to step aside.

On July 22, the City of Watsonville began clearing a homeless camp adjacent to the Pajaro River levee.