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Santa Cruz County News, Traffic & Weather


All the Santa Cruz News, Traffic and Weather, with directories of local Government, Community Groups & Nonprofits in one place!
Image caption: Detail from The New York Times Magazine cover for June 4, 2023.
The California Effect and CalMatters

The New York Times Magazine spends an entire issue explaining why California matters, and CalMatters wins gold for giving the state the coverage it deserves.

Image caption: California ranks seventh in wind power, with 3.5 percent of all U.S. wind energy produced here.
California Inches Toward Renewable Energy Goal

Renewable energy sources provided 37 percent of California electricity in 2021, a new record for the state as it moves toward its 2045 goal of 100 percent clean energy. Battery storage will play a huge role in reaching that goal.

Image caption: Clinicians will have two weeks to decide whether a mentally ill person qualifies for the CARE Court system.
Mental Health CARE Court System Debuts in October

California’s new CARE Court system that compels treatment for people with severe mental illness is set to roll out in seven counties this October, despite efforts by civil liberties groups to stop it.

Image caption: Service members stand in formation during a Memorial Day service.
Memorial Day & the Death Penalty: Member Newsletter, 05/29/23

Let’s face some hard facts—and still be able to celebrate the beginning of the best season of the year.

Image caption: Members of Teamsters, CSUEU, UAW 4123, and CFA faculty gathered to ask for fair wages outside the CSU Chancellor’s office in Long Beach on May 23.
Report: Cal State Has $1.5 Billion Funding Gap

A new analysis shows that the California State University system doesn’t make or receive enough money to cover its costs, even with state support. The report and lawmakers urge the system to increase tuition, but even that might not be …

Image caption: A background in documentary filmmaking taught Jeanne LePage how to raise the money needed to make big projects happen.
Biking Toward a Better Future

Ecology Action’s many programs make Central Coast communities greener. But it takes money to keep them running—and that’s where Jeanne LePage comes in.

Image caption: How many innocent people have been executed? There is no way to know for sure.
Death Penalty Mistakes: When the State Kills the Innocent

More than 4 percent of death penalty convicts have been wrongfully convicted, data shows. But courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have failed to provide protections for the innocent facing death at the hands of the state.

Image caption: The death chamber inside San Quentin. Gov. Newsom has ordered the facility dismantled.
Is California’s Death Penalty Finally Dead?

The death penalty remains legal in California, but Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in 2019. Will capital punishment end in the state? Here’s what’s happening.

Image caption: California’s 1,000 megawatts of power from the Colorado River’s Hoover Dam have been in jeopardy.
California To Cut Colorado River Water Use

California will cut use of water from the Colorado River drastically under a new agreement announced by the Biden Administration on May 22. Nevada and Arizona have also agreed to the cuts.

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CALocal Wins Two Big Journo Awards

You probably know that The Newsletter goes out only to California Local members and subscribers. Today I am writing to bring the good news that we have just been given two big awards.

Image caption: Your elected representatives want to hear from you.
Tips on Contacting Your Elected Representatives

Voting is just the beginning. Stay connected with your representatives to make sure your government is working for you.

Image caption: Time to step up and speak out.
Conveniently Contacting Your Elected Representatives

We've made it one-click convenient for members to contact their elected representatives.

Image caption: Then-Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty speaks at a TEDx event in 2020. “As a local official, every day I get to wake up and try to take action to make our community a little bit better place.”
An Interview With Ryan Coonerty

On the Santa Cruz City Council, then as mayor, and then as county supervisor, Ryan Coonerty learned to love politics.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: A farmworker takes a break from picking raspberries inside a hoop-house in the Salinas Valley.
California Agriculture & Immigration

The state’s most important industry relies on workers who are not given a chance to obtain legal status.

Image caption: Gary Gragg examines buds on one of the mango plants he's growing in the Sacramento Valley.
Mangoes and Agave in the Central Valley?

The future of farming in California is changing as the planet warms, altering the rain and heat patterns that guide which crops are grown where. “We’re adjusting for survival,” one grower said.

Image caption: They help feed the whole country, but life for California’s farm workers remains a struggle.
How California Feeds the Country

California stands as America’s agricultural powerhouse, growing half of its fruits and vegetables. Here’s how California farming has shaped the state, from the early missions to today’s “factories in the field.”

Image caption: State Sen. Scott Wiener reminds us that for generations, California has welcomed people to be who and what they are.
Scott Wiener; Weird Comix; Water Rights

How the SF state senator was changed by California; how our great state spawned a cultural phenomenon; how many Californians are being denied life's most basic necessity.

Image caption: Rip Off Press, once located in San Francisco's Sunset District and now headquartered in Auburn, was part of a movement that blossomed in California.
Graphic Content

Comics may have been born in New York, but they came of age in California. And there’s more to the story than San Francisco comix.

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How Free Trips Lead to Bills

Members of the California Legislature took nearly $1 million worth of trips sponsored by interest groups in 2022. The California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy accounted for 40% of the travel spending. Over the years, some of its …

Santa Cruz County Newsletter

Weekly digest of curated state and local news, upcoming government meetings and community events.

California Local Pin Marker   Bulletin Board
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From Grey Hayes
06/05/2023

California’s Coastal Bluff Diversity

A walk on the ocean bluff is invigorating, so close to many amazing natural phenomena, but these areas see too little ecological protection. Ecotones- the area between two habitats- are well known...

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06/05/2023

Controlled Burn at Henry Cowell S.P

Land stewards at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park recently had a controlled burn to remove some of the undergrowth that has overgrown parts of the park. Elissa Welle, a student in the UCSC Science...

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06/05/2023

Death and Lucid Living with Sahlah Dubel

Dreaming can help us prepare for and recover from loss, but how do we continue to engage with Spirit during our waking lives? Today, we have a conversation about Lucid Living with Sahlah Dubel. Th...

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06/05/2023

KSQD Marched with Joy in this Year’s Pride Parade!

KSQD marched happily in the SC Pride Parade 2023, which was richly attended this year with large crowds and big hearts filled with community connection and a determination to stand together to sup...

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06/05/2023

Martha Kendall – Wheels

Martha Kendall spins a good life.

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06/03/2023

Weekly Review June 4 to June 10

NOTE: With the end of the Covid-19 emergency declaration, county and city meetings have returned to in-person or hybrid meetings. Unless otherwise noted, meetings are in-person and no longer acces...

Upcoming Meetings → View All

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County of Santa Cruz
City Selection Committee
TODAY   1:00 PM

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City of Santa Cruz
Zoning Administrator
Wednesday June 7 2023   10:00 AM

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County of Santa Cruz
Integrated Community Health Center Commission
Wednesday June 7 2023   4:00 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
Water Advisory Commission
Wednesday June 7 2023   4:00 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
Latino Affairs Commission Meeting
Wednesday June 7 2023   6:00 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
Commission on Disabilities Meeting
Thursday June 8 2023   12:30 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
Sanitation District Board of Directors
Thursday June 8 2023   4:45 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission
Thursday June 8 2023   5:30 PM

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City of Capitola
Capitola City Council Regular Meeting
Thursday June 8 2023   7:00 PM

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City of Santa Cruz
Parks and Recreation Commission
Monday June 12 2023   4:00 PM

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County of Santa Cruz
County Board of Supervisors Meeting
Tuesday June 13 2023   9:00 AM

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County of Santa Cruz
County Board of Supervisors Meeting
Tuesday June 13 2023   1:30 PM

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City of Santa Cruz
City Council
Tuesday June 13 2023   3:30 PM

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City of Watsonville
City Council Meeting
Tuesday June 13 2023   4:30 PM

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City of Capitola
Art and Cultural Commission Meeting
Tuesday June 13 2023   6:30 PM

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City of Santa Cruz
Planning Commission
Thursday June 15 2023   7:00 PM

Upcoming Community Events

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Felton: Farmers Market
TODAY   1:30 PM

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Downtown Santa Cruz: Farmers Market
Wednesday June 7 2023   1:00 PM

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Soul Doubt
Wednesday June 7 2023   6:00 PM

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Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing: Westside Comedy
Wednesday June 7 2023   8:00 PM

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Bargetto Winery: Music in the Courtyard
Thursday June 8 2023   6:00 PM

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Edward Simon Group feat. Magos Herrera
Thursday June 8 2023   7:00 PM

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Grateful Thursdays w/ Aardvark
Thursday June 8 2023   7:00 PM

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American Underdog
Friday June 9 2023   7:00 PM

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Greater Purpose Brewing: Comedy Night
Friday June 9 2023   7:30 PM

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Cabrillo College: Aptos Farmers Market
Saturday June 10 2023   8:00 AM

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Scotts Valley: Farmers Market
Saturday June 10 2023   8:00 AM

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Capitola Rod & Custom Classic Car Show
Saturday June 10 2023   8:30 AM

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Westside Santa Cruz: Farmers Market
Saturday June 10 2023   9:00 AM

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Guided Walk at Gray Whale Cove
Saturday June 10 2023   10:00 AM

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West Cliff: Outdoor Market
Saturday June 10 2023   10:00 AM

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Loch Lomond Recreation Area: Boat Tours
Saturday June 10 2023   11:00 AM

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Agricultural History Project: 2nd Saturday on the Farm
Saturday June 10 2023   11:00 AM

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Wilder Ranch State Park: Historic Ranch Ground Tour
Saturday June 10 2023   1:00 PM

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Santa Cruz Wharf: Swing Out Santa Cruz
Saturday June 10 2023   3:00 PM

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Roaring Camp Railroads: Moonlight Train Dinner Party
Saturday June 10 2023   6:00 PM

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Serious Condition
Saturday June 10 2023   7:00 PM

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UCSC Jazz Ensembles
Saturday June 10 2023   7:30 PM

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Sin Sisters Burlesque
Saturday June 10 2023   8:30 PM

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Corralitos: Farm and Garden Market
Sunday June 11 2023   8:00 AM

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Downtown Santa Cruz: Antiques Faire
Sunday June 11 2023   8:00 AM

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Live Oak: Farmers Market
Sunday June 11 2023   9:00 AM

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Jerry Miller Band
Sunday June 11 2023   12:00 PM

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Richard Smith: Hallcrest Vineyards Concert Series
Sunday June 11 2023   4:00 PM

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Cris Williamson & Barbara Higbie
Sunday June 11 2023   7:00 PM

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Pasquale Grasso: Solo Guitar
Monday June 12 2023   7:00 PM

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Santa Cruz Wharf: Live Concert Series
Tuesday June 13 2023   6:00 PM