Santa Cruz County Local News

A mother picks up her son from daycare in Richmond on Sept. 26, 2022. Photo by Marissa Leshnov for CalMatters

Beginning Monday, 150 households in Fresno County are expected to receive a $500 prepaid card to spend on anything they’d like — no strings attached. It will be the first of 12 monthly recurring payments those Southwest Fresno and Huron residents will receive as part of a guaranteed basic income program for low-income families.

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz won a prestigious award for their paper outlining new techniques to greatly reduce power consumption by AI models.

The Santa Cruz County Climate Action Plan will be the focus of a public meeting scheduled for July 31.

Public comment is being solicited on mural designs for the Ramsay Park Nature Center in Watsonville.

UC Santa Cruz moved to raze the 42-space Camper Park on July 10, citing concerns for health and safety.

The Cabrillo Robotics Club won first place in international underwater robotics competition.

Harnessing clean energy is a venture of unprecedented scope in California, bringing big changes to Humboldt and the Central Coast, and requiring 26 ports along the coast.

Taking advantage of new state funds, some California healthcare providers are starting to offer what their homeless patients really need: housing.

Responding to a July 11 welfare check, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Deputies discovered a cockfighting ring and over 200 mutilated roosters.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, California’s Democratic leaders moved fast to shore up reproductive rights: They persuaded voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution, approved a dozen bills strengthening abortion protections and passed a law in May to enable Arizona doctors to temporarily provide abortion services for their patients in California.

The Santa Cruz County Health Department issued an alert on July 8 warning of possible measles exposure risk.

In three rulings the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a body blow to the federal bureaucracy. From healthcare to climate to workers’ rights, California’s rules often go farther.

CalMatters launched Digital Democracy in April, and its impact has rippled across the Legislature.

A program for low-income, first-generation STEM students at community colleges is receiving millions of dollars to expand across the state.

Private-sector jobs in California have declined since their post-pandemic peak, while public-sector employment has shown gains, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says.

There’s a lot of misinformation floating around out there about homelessness in California. We use data to dispel several common myths.

Heat waves have killed hundreds of Californians and cost billions of dollars in the past decade, according to a new report from the state insurance department.

An interview with Boulder Creek resident Luka McClish, recently rescued after 10 days lost int he Santa Cruz Mountains.

A recap of a June 27 meeting attended by residents of Mountain Charlie Road and officials from the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works.