Westside / Downtown Neighborhood Newsletter for Thursday, December 18

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Good morning! It’s December 18 — here’s what’s going on in your community today…

Fog will lift this morning in Westside / Downtown

Today will be fog will lift this morning; partly sunny. There is a 1% chance of rain. The high will be 64 with a low of 49. Fog now, changing to mostly sunny at 1 p.m.

Looking ahead: Expect rainy weather late Saturday night through late Wednesday night

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Westside / Downtown news

Downtown’s Parking for Hope returns, funding Hope Services’ litter abatement. Hilltop residents sue over habitability. Santa Cruz arts commission applications open until Jan. 11.

Letter to the editor: Santa Cruz must stop sweeping unhoused residents away and find real solutions

December 17, 2025

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What’s new around you

▼︎ police incidents   ▼︎ road incidents   ▼︎ food inspections

Read on to see the details about each item…

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Roadwork is affecting traffic in the region

• A lane on North Highway 9 at Fern Street is closed for utility work. The closure is expected to end at 2:30 p.m. on December 22.
   
• There is a one-way traffic closure on South Highway 9 at Lorenzo Avenue in San Lorenzo Valley because of emergency work. The closure is expected to end at 3:59 p.m. on April 1, 2026.
   
• A lane on northbound Highway 17 at W Vine Hill Road in Scotts Valley is closed for tree work. The closure is expected to end at 4:01 a.m. today.
   

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Restaurant inspections

County officials regularly inspect food facilities to ensure compliance with state laws. Here, Lookout Santa Cruz reports both those who have passed the inspections and those that the county deems to have a “major” issue. The county’s full ongoing report can be accessed here.

• La Bahia Main Kitchen at 215 Beach St., Santa Cruz, passed a county health inspection on December 15 with no critical issues.
   
• Janus Of Santa Cruz at 200 7th Ave. Ste 150, Santa Cruz, passed a county health inspection on December 16 with no critical issues.
   

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Community crime report

• A person was arrested for having outstanding misdemeanor warrants. The arrest happened near the block of Santa Cruz on December 15 at 1 p.m. (source)
   
• Police searched a backpack and arrested a person for having drugs to sell, drug paraphernalia, having drugs, and having an outstanding felony warrant. The incident happened near the 100 Block of S River St., Santa Cruz at 1 p.m. on December 15. (source)
   
• A man was arrested for breaking the rules of his parole. The incident happened near the 600 Block of 2nd St., Santa Cruz, at 7 a.m. on December 15. (source)
   
• A woman was arrested for being under the influence of drugs in public and acting disorderly. The incident happened near the 400 Block of Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz, at 4 a.m. on December 15. (source)
   
• A person was cited for having drug paraphernalia, destroying evidence, and violating probation. The incident happened near the 2500 Block of Mission St., Santa Cruz at 3 a.m. on December 15. (source)
   
• A person was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near the 700 Block of Ocean St., Santa Cruz at 10 p.m. on December 12. (source)
   
• A person was arrested for being publicly intoxicated from drugs. The incident happened near Cedar St. and North Church St., Santa Cruz, at 8 a.m. on December 12. (source)
   
• A person was given a citation and released for having methamphetamine. This happened near the 100 Block of River St., Santa Cruz at 2 a.m. on December 12. (source)
   
• A person was cited for driving with a license suspended because of a DUI and for not providing proof of insurance. The incident happened near the 100 Block of Trinity St., Santa Cruz at 8 p.m. on December 11. (source)
   
• Two people were cited and released for having illegal drug paraphernalia. The incident happened near the 800 Block of Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, at 3 p.m. on December 11. (source)
   
• A hit-and-run collision caused property damage near the 400 Block of River St., Santa Cruz. The incident happened at 4 p.m. on December 10. (source)
   
• A man was arrested for not showing up to court and for resisting or obstructing an officer. The arrest happened near SR1 (Hwy 1) and SR9 (Hwy 9) in Santa Cruz at 3 a.m. on December 9. (source)
   
• Vandalism under $400 was reported near the 600 Block of Front St., Santa Cruz at midnight on December 7. (source)
   
• A report of vandalism under $400 was made online. The incident happened near Walnut Ave. & Center St., Santa Cruz at midnight on November 29. (source)
   
• A report of vandalism under $400 was made online. The incident happened near the 500 Block of Leibrandt Ave., Santa Cruz, at midnight on November 27. (source)
   
• A grand theft of money, labor, or property was reported online. The incident happened near the 800 Block of Mission St., Santa Cruz. It occurred at midnight on November 27. (source)
   
• A report of vandalism under $400 was made online. The incident happened near the 2400 Block of Mission St., Santa Cruz, at midnight on November 25. (source)
   
• A grand theft of money, labor, or property was reported online. The incident happened near the 100 Block of Grandview St., Santa Cruz. It occurred at midnight on November 22. (source)
   
• A past domestic violence incident involving physical injury to a partner was reported near the 100 Block of Sutphen St., Santa Cruz. The incident occurred at 6 a.m. on November 20. (source)
   
• A petty theft was reported online. The incident happened near River St. and Soquel Ave. in Santa Cruz around midnight on November 12. (source)
   

Note on today’s report: Some of the incidents listed are not recent. This can happen for a couple of reasons: Delays in agency reporting — sometimes officials don’t file reports right away, or agencies release batches of reports weeks later. Delays in public complaints — people may not notice or decide to contact police until some time after an incident. Please contact the responsible law-enforcement agency or your local elected officials if you have concerns about their delay in releasing information.

Disclosure: Traffic incidents and police incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.