Santa Cruz County Local News

Bucking the “doom loop” narrative, many tech entrepreneurs say San Francisco is still the “it city” for innovation—especially with the rise of AI.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recipe for digging the state out of a multibillion-dollar budget hole has “strengths and weaknesses” while his revenue projections are “plausible, but optimistic,” the nonpartisan analyst’s office said.

A sports bar along the Capitola Esplanade will be closing amid a years-long feud between the business owners, the landlord and his son.

California’s projected budget deficit of close to $38 billion likely means some cuts are coming. Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed ending the California State Park Adventure Pass, which offers free access to some state parks for fourth graders.

Michel Moore, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, announced he will resign. The departure of Moore, who has been in the job since 2018, will spur the appointment of an interim chief and a nationwide search for his replacement, according to Mayor Karen Bass.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case related to whether cities and towns can ban camping on public property. The high court could overturn Martin v. Boise, a 2018 federal court decision that keeps western cities and counties from blocking public camping when sufficient shelter space is unavailable.

Cabrillo College President Matt Wetstein says the challenges of doing a joint housing project with the University of California are delaying the groundbreaking of the complex planned for Cabrillo's Aptos campus.

UC Santa Cruz will provide a ”first of its kind” bachelor of arts in Creative Technologies beginning in fall 2024.

To keep more police on patrols, law enforcement groups want officers to spend less time in court. Legislation would allow non-sworn community service officers to testify in preliminary hearings.

A former UC Santa Cruz deputy development director claims a retaliatory firing after she complained about a scheme by a consultant to mislead and pressure campus donors. Officials call the claims “absurd.”

The Santa Cruz City Council's most contentious meeting in memory centered around a geopolitical issue 7,000 miles away, with impassioned calls from the community to take a stand and elected officials deciding to go in a different direction.

State funding that has helped fuel a second look at dozens of Santa Cruz County convictions over the past two years may be eliminated in the coming year’s budget.

After the commercial Dungeness crab season was delayed due to the presence of humpback whales, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it will reopen next week with some restrictions.

Like the redwoods that survived the devastating CZU fire of 2020, the McHenry family is resilient. That fateful August conflagration ruined a promising crop at Beauregard Vineyards.

Carbon capture is having a moment. Companies such as Chevron Corp. are building technology to capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks while others are working to yank the greenhouse gas out of the air.

The Watsonville Planning Commission unanimously approved a change in the ownership structure of Creme De Canna on West Beach Street and a complete shift in ownership for the Cultivate Watsonville dispensary on Kearney Street.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed that lawmakers tap a rainy day reserve and that a minimum wage increase for health care workers be delayed to help the state fight a $37.9 billion deficit. This projection is more than double what Newsom and other officials had anticipated last year.

Pea Soup Andersen’s, a Buellton, Calif., restaurant just shy of its 100th birthday, closed suddenly. The restaurant's other location, near Interstate 5 in Santa Nella, remains open.

California farmers face challenges posed by multiple types of fruit flies. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending just over $22 million to combat the spread of these flies.

After months of negotiations, university officials offer a 5% pay raise. The union is seeking 12 percent and plans to strike at the end of January.