After delays due to poor-quality crab meat and threatened humpback whales along some areas of the coast, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife says Dungeness crab season will open statewide Dec. 31.
Coast Life
Posted inEnvironment
Unsung Santa Cruz: Andy Carman matches restless locals with volunteer opportunities in defense of the planet
Where the enormity of the challenges facing the planet drags some into defeatism, it had the opposite effect on Andy Carman, galvanizing the Santa Cruz psychotherapist into action. “Andy, quit whining about what’s needed and what’s missing,” he told himself, and Environteers soon followed.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As desalination gains traction in parts of California, Santa Cruz weighs future of its water supply
Santa Cruz needs more water if it is going to comfortably grow as planned. A new policy aimed at future water-supply projects keeps a desalination plant on the table, a controversial strategy with a long history in Santa Cruz.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Unsung Santa Cruz: As the navigator in chief, he’s helping steer county’s most vulnerable into housing
John Dietz is not your average 85-year-old riding out his golden years. He and his team at the downtown Santa Cruz library work diligently to help house folks who might otherwise be deemed off-limits by landlords. They help find important paperwork, fill out forms and prepare for housing interviews. Once those clients are in, the team helps them remain stable. If and when they lose that roof overhead, Dietz and his team try, try again.
Posted inLatest News
Weekend weather: King tides peak – and a wet post-Christmas is on the way
King tides are unusually low and high tides that occur when the gravitational pull of the sun and moon are in alignment. Those forces came together this week when the king tides rolled in on Thursday. They peaked today across the Santa Cruz area, but will continue through Christmas Day.
Posted inLatest News
‘Critically ill’ mountain lion cub rescued from Santa Cruz being cared for at Oakland Zoo
State wildlife officials retrieved the cub, which was in poor health and appeared to be orphaned, Monday in Santa Cruz and brought the animal to Oakland Zoo for care.
Posted inLatest News
As Conception boat burned, divers trapped below deck calmly looked for way out, video shows
Federal investigators have recovered a short video recorded by a victim of the Conception boat tragedy as the 34 people trapped below deck tried to find a way off the burning ship. Six Santa Cruz County residents were among those killed in the 2019 tragedy.
Posted inLatest News
It will be a red-tagged Christmas for those whose homes were wrecked in 6.4 quake
Tuesday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake adds to hardships for some Northern California residents, while others quickly bounce back.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘The world is missing something without him’: Santa Cruz memorializes its unhoused fatalities
COVID wiped out the annual community celebration of homeless lives lost for two straight years. Wednesday marked its return and a packed Vets Hall illustrated the number of others affected by those losses — 137 people who had been unhoused at some point in 2022, 91 of whom lost their lives while deemed officially homeless.
Posted inLatest News
How climate change is reshaping the Christmas tree
As climate change causes extended periods of drought and warm temperatures, even hardy Christmas trees are struggling to thrive. This has spurred some Santa Cruz-area Christmas tree farmers to become more innovative in their approach to growing the trees. It also means your Christmas tree might look a little different in future years.