Santa Cruz County Local News

A group called Affordable Housing Advocates Santa Cruz has emerged to counter the ballot measure known as the Housing for People Citizen Initiative, which qualified at the end of November to be placed on the city of Santa Cruz March 2024 ballot.

A Cal Poly Humboldt professor is partnering with USDA researchers to study biochar, which results from heating dry plant-based materials at high temperatures without oxygen. The CO2 in the charcoal then stays in the soil for hundreds of years, rather than in the atmosphere.

A large gathering of protesters sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people is expected outside a fundraiser Dec. 8 in Westwood for President Biden. Police have warned that any violence won’t be tolerated.

A coyote recently was found at the $27 million Russian Hill home of AI mogul Sam Altman. This relates to a study, which found that coyote sightings were more frequent in higher-income areas of San Francisco.

The California Department of Water Resources released an environmental impact report for a tunnel that the state would like to build through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The report identifies potential impacts to farmland, tribal remains and endangered species of fish.

Conservationists intend to shoot all of the deer on Santa Catalina Island by helicopter. Some people are opposed, either for not wanting to eliminate the deer or for missing out on future chances to hunt them.

Although the federal government is providing four free COVID tests per month, that’s not the only way to get them. Aetna and Blue Shield of California members can be reimbursed for up to eight at-home tests per month, while Kaiser Permanente is offering discounts on tests.

Even though California is facing a crippling housing shortage, one potential source remains untapped. The state allows thousands of apartments used for part of the year by farmworkers to otherwise sit vacant for three to six months.

Hunter Biden, a Malibu resident, is facing nine tax-related charges between the years of 2016 and 2019. It is the second criminal indictment for the son of President Biden, aside from a pending firearms case.

A three-year pilot transportation project local leaders say could bring “transformational change” to the county is fully funded thanks to approval by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.

Staff at the state’s air regulatory agency have been restricted from communicating with Jim Duffy, a scientist who retired from the agency in 2022. Duffy had criticized gas lobbyists and an agency director.

Homeschool students in San Diego County are up by 88 percent since the 2017-18 school year, based on Washington Post data analysis. This tops an overall increase in the United States of 50 percent for this same timeframe.

Oakland School District teachers planned lessons for students related to the history of Gaza. District superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell emailed parents and staff to say the teaching isn’t approved or sanctioned by the district.

A recently published, multiyear study about the recovery of redwood trees in Big Basin Redwoods State Park after the CZU Lightning Complex fires shows that carbon reserves and ancient, dormant buds within redwood trees allow the plants to recover quickly after a catastrophic fire.

California’s “failure to protect” law allows child welfare agencies to take kids from households scarred by domestic violence. Advocates say the separation can worsen a family’s trauma.

California energy regulators are considering requiring homeowners to replace broken air-conditioning systems with heat pumps or HVAC systems that are more energy efficient. The change would go into effect in 2026.

The Fort Independence Indian Community is getting the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at no cost in 2024. Native Americans had lived on this land for centuries before the hatchery’s construction.

County leaders will seek state backing to install “no parking” signs for more than a mile outside Santa Cruz city limits along Highway 9. The move targets a stretch of state highway where vehicle pullouts serve as access points to wooded areas.

Profits have been down for cannabis operators in California in recent years. While the industry is still big business in the state, it faces an uncertain future.

A recent investigation by Voice of San Diego revealed that nonprofits that provide staff at local stadiums could be raising money without doing charity work, while also paying labor below minimum wage and under the table. Now, multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating.