Santa Cruz County Local News

A group of protesters sat down with interlocked arms on the 110 Freeway near downtown LA on Dec. 13, halting southbound traffic for more than an hour. Multiple people were arrested according to the CHP.

Higher-income workers are more likely to work from home, analysis of recent census data shows. Lower-income workers can face long and solitary commutes to get to work.

Harjinder Shergill-Chima has been appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as the new director of the California State Lottery. Shergill-Chima, the first Indian American to serve in the role, takes over for Alva Johnson.

A new graphic novel by Santa Cruz’s Reverberations Books, “Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey,” depicts the life cycle of pumas, the challenges they face and what people can do to help.

Jeju Kitchen has debuted quietly on the lower level of Carmel Plaza, where Carmel Burger Bar used to be.

A new select committee in the California Assembly dedicated to retail theft will hold its first hearing on Dec. 19. This allows the committee to get to work before the next legislative session on an issue that’s drawn much press for California in recent years.

Officials in Kern County are proposing to build a carbon management facility that would be twice the size of Manhattan. By doing this, they would leverage federal tax credits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Three restaurants in San Francisco, three in Los Angeles and one in San Diego have been added to the Michelin Guide. Two of the SF eateries also made Esquire’s list for best new American restaurants in 2023.

Birds are affected by the mass use of fireworks on New Year’s Eve up to a distance of 10 km away, reports an international team of researchers.

For the past 48 years, Barry and Joyce Vissell have been devoted to helping other people through their nonprofit, The Shared Heart Foundation.

Sea Harvest, the family-owned fishing outfit with boats on the water and a constellation of market-restaurants on shore, has a new market that just opened in Moss Landing.

Salaries for school superintendents in California have risen as much as 60 percent in the past decade. This comes as good superintendents have become more difficult to hire and retain.

Judson Jones, a meteorologist and reporter for The New York Times, gave a Q&A about California’s year of intense weather. This included the state’s largest snowpack in 40 years and a “pretty astonishing” amount of precipitation.

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, founder of End Well, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, would like to diversify how death is portrayed on television. This would include more focus on less dramatic and violent deaths.

An estimated 100,000 pizza boxes have been removed from Yosemite’s waste stream. This is because the famed park now serves pizza on trays and puts to-go portions in compostable bags, part of a move to reduce food-related waste.

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust recently paid almost $10 million for a 1.86-acre site formerly used for oil drilling. It could be converted into a community center, park and affordable housing.

By declining to hear a conservative group’s challenge, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a California ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. California is one of 22 states to ban this practice.

Californians have said they experienced added difficulty over the past year in getting car insurance. Insurer rates have gone up more than usual.

In “As You Like It,” Jacques famously proclaims, “One man in his time plays many parts.” That is certainly true of Lorne Dechtenberg, who has served as a musician, nonprofit director and music director.

Santa Cruz County is the 15th most vulnerable county nationwide, according to data recently compiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
More than 93% of the county's total geography is made up of unincorporated regions where more than half of its population resides.