Santa Cruz County Public Safety Articles

PAJARO—A cadre of elected and public officials gathered in Pajaro late Sunday morning to issue a dire warning in advance of a rainstorm expected to begin Sunday night and bring possible major flooding to Monterey and Santa Cruz counties through …

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Watsonville and Santa Cruz County officials on Thursday lifted the evacuation orders and flood warnings issued during the dual atmospheric river storms that came on Dec. 30 and Jan. 4, allowing residents to return home and breathe a …

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are our 10 most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from immigration to cryptocurrency to wealth inequality and more.

New modeling shows potential zones of impact, improving previous maps from 2009

How scientists are working to keep water safe at Watsonville lake, and around the county

APTOS—The California Highway Patrol in the Santa Cruz Area is implementing a 12-month enforcement and education campaign to reduce the number of fatal and injury traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists in the unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz County.  The …

Elon Musk says he plans to make Twitter a haven for 'free speech,' but a look at his list of investors suggests that the world's richest person may have other reasons for purchasing the highly influential social media platform.

Consumers may not know it, but their cellphones and laptops – if improperly disposed of – could become an incendiary device. Ditto that for anything with a rechargeable battery, like a toothbrush, drill, or any number of now-common household appliances

A newly formed community group with the vision of reducing the use of pesticides in the Pajaro Valley is taking on international berry giant Driscoll’s. The Campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) recently sent a letter to Driscoll’s CEO …

Boulder Creek Fire Protection District The Boulder Creek Volunteer Fire Department is led by a five-person Board of Directors. The District encompasses 21 square miles of mountainous terrain and serves over 7,000 citizens. 40 volunteers respond to approximately 1,300 calls …

California’s goal of zero traffic fatalities remains distant. Here are some common causes of deaths on the road that can be fixed, but haven’t been.

The Vision Zero program sets a goal for California cities to eliminate traffic fatalities, but almost a decade into the effort, the goal remains distant, and horrific tragedies on the road continue to stack up.

A wave of public government meeting disruptions by right-wing groups often inspired by Donald Trump has inspired a new law designed to help officials restore order to the process of running local government.

The ‘Wall Street Journal’ reporter investigates the mishaps of California’s largest utility in ‘California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What It Means for America's Power Grid’

Fires, floods, earthquakes—California’s got it all. And CERT volunteers are ready to step in.

Despite promises of a fast-track process, most fire victims who want to rebuild legally are waiting for permits.

Lasers, mushrooms and other innovations help heal the local landscape

The chances of a 'biblical' megastorm devastating California have doubled over the past century, thanks to climate change, a new study warns. And as the globe continues to warm, the possibility of disaster only gets worse.

How local amateur radio operators can help in the next big emergency.

Was the deadly McKinney Fire made worse by the decline of commercial logging, or were factors such as poor forest management and climate change more important in causing the fire to explode in Siskiyou County?