Santa Cruz County Local News

Things are heating up as candidates eye three seats on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Farm owner and U.S. Air Force veteran David Schwartz hopes to represent the 2nd District, running from Aptos to the Pajaro River basin.

Salmon populations in the Scott and Shasta rivers have crashed, so state officials are about to restrict irrigation again. And the controversial rules may even become permanent.

The number of nursing students enrolling in high-priced private programs has nearly doubled over the past 10 years as the state’s public universities have stagnated in growth. Private universities charge up to seven times the tuition of public schools for a bachelor’s degree, but nurses say their starting salaries are worth the cost.

Judge Syda Cogliati has been elected by the bench to serve as the presiding judge and Judge Jerry Vinluan has been elected to serve as assistant presiding judge, according to a release from the Superior Court of Santa Cruz County.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has found a new leader: former California Transportation Commission Executive Director Mitch Weiss will temporarily takes over for Guy Preston while it continues its search for a permanent replacement.

With fellow classmates, Iman Moshari collects underused bikes, repairs them and give them to people who apply.

During its Holiday Food & Fund drive for Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, the Twin Lakes congregation raised $512,725.07 — the largest sum ever donated by an organization during the drive.

Seasonal counts are showing there are, as expected, fewer butterflies overwintering in Pacific Grove than last year, but not the record lows of 2018-20.

Despite a few improvements, results show students are still struggling on several fronts.

All but two California counties are delaying their implementation of a new law that makes it easier for a court to place someone in involuntary confinement if they can’t care for their own medical needs or personal safety.

Water fights have shaped California since its infancy as a state, when its abundance seemed limitless. Now, Californians are being forced to confront limitations, and the state that prides itself on creating the future is now reckoning with its past.

Gov. Gavin Newsom defended his work and that of current or former California leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris during an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Newsom suggested conservatives focus unduly on California's failures.

Federal judge David O. Carter has declined to dismiss a lawsuit that could force the Veterans Administration to house veterans experiencing homelessness in the Los Angeles area. Carter’s 41-page ruling could pave the way for a trial in mid-2024.

The California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board is strengthening protections for stone cutters who have been breathing dangerous silica dust. At least 10 stone cutters have died in the past five years from silicosis.

The fentanyl epidemic has pushed San Francisco to a grim milestone: a new record for overdoses. A total 752 people overdosed in the first 11 months of this year, surpassing 2020’s record number of 726.

California’s projected $68 billion deficit has led to a number of cost-saving measures. Among them, a popular program for state workers to cash in unused vacation time has been paused.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has formally backed an August motion by two law groups to keep the Temecula Valley Unified School District from being able to notify parents about transgender children or censor instruction about race. A hearing for the motion is scheduled for Jan. 24.

The Exclusive Poultry Inc. agreed to pay $3.8 million in wages, damages and penalties in part for hiring children for dangerous work. The case is one of hundreds federal labor officials investigated last year.

For only the second time in Watsonville’s history, the City Council will be led by two women, and for the first time by two millennial Latina women: Vanessa Quiroz-Carter, 37, and Maria Orozco, 35.

A line of about 150 residents wrapped around Santa Cruz City Hall, as community members came out in force to urge the City Council to pass a resolution calling for a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.