Santa Cruz County cannabis businesses are seeing a rapid rise in sophisticated burglary operations, boiling over last month into one business owner attempting to intervene with gunfire. Industry leaders say the police, which have not made any arrests after multiple burglaries in 2023, are failing. The cops disagree.
Civic Life
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz’s oversized vehicle ordinance goes into effect Monday. Will it help solve homelessness?
The City of Santa Cruz’s oversized vehicle ordinance goes into effect Monday after a lengthy road to approval. While safe parking services are available for those living in RVs and campers, spaces are often full, and some worry about the ability of their often old vehicles to withstand traveling to and from the designated parking areas.
Posted inAptos, Arts & Entertainment, Business & Technology, City Life, Latest News, Politics & Policy
The Shapers: Rowland Rebele’s immeasurable imprint on Santa Cruz County
In the arts, social services, journalism, education and the fight against homelessness, the late Rowland Rebele leaves behind a legacy of community support in Santa Cruz County stunning in its breadth and commitment.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I am on a hunger strike in the Santa Cruz County jail: We want better conditions and more oversight
Five men have been on a hunger strike at the Santa Cruz Main Jail since Nov. 8. They are asking for better conditions, more oversight, cheaper prices on commissary goods and assurance that mail they get from their lawyers remains private. The writer is a pre-trial detainee who has spent close to five years inside the jail. “We think the public should know what happens to people inside these walls,” Jason Cortez writes. “Many of us have been inside for years awaiting trial. We are not yet guilty of any crimes, yet we are treated abominably.”
Posted inLatest News
Capitola police make arrest in fatal hit-and-run collision
Capitola police arrested a Soquel woman on charges of vehicular manslaughter and hit and run causing death on Friday afternoon. Police say their investigation into the death of Debra Towne, 70, is ongoing.
Posted inLatest News, Politics & Policy
Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter workers confront management over pay, working conditions
Santa Cruz animal shelter workers confronted management Thursday over their longstanding complaints about low pay, staffing shortages and alleged mismanagement of shelter operations. The workers filed an unfair labor practices charge last week, and plan to attend voice their concerns at a Dec. 11 meeting.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Five key moments from the Newsom-DeSantis debate
The high-stakes Newsom-DeSantis debate devolved into name-calling and arguing over facts — with the backdrop of the presidential campaign.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Here’s what they don’t tell you about the Housing for People ballot initiative
“Not a single leading affordable housing group in our area has indicated support for this initiative,” write longtime Santa Cruz housing advocates Diana Alfaro, Don Lane and Elizabeth Madrigal. “To put it bluntly, the Housing for People name is just a political deception – especially egregious at a time when we need genuine affordable housing efforts.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Boundless passion: Community pillar Rowland Rebele passes away
An everyman of community betterment, Reb leaves an unmatched legacy of doing good throughout Santa Cruz County.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz City Council delays vote on installing license plate readers over privacy concerns
The Santa Cruz Police Department asked the city council if it could lease automated license plate readers that would record each license plate that crosses the cameras’ lenses. Many residents and some organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, urged caution, saying they don’t want anything resembling an Orwellian surveillance state in the community. Faced […]
