Two-way traffic on West Cliff Drive could be back as soon as the beginning of 2024, with Santa Cruz’s public works department recommending that the city council vote next week to restore both lanes between Columbia Street and Woodrow Avenue. The section between Woodrow and Almar Avenue that’s been completely closed to traffic is still about a year away from repair.
Storms 2023: Road to Recovery
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’s bill could speed Pajaro River levee repairs by skipping state environmental rules
With long-promised repairs to the Pajaro River levee in danger of being slowed by California Environmental Quality Act requirements, Speaker Robert Rivas — whose district includes the Pajaro Valley — is overhauling a bill before the State Assembly with the aim of getting the project started sooner.
Posted inLatest News
As Pajaro River levee repairs begin, questions remain around the long-sought replacement
Crews are working to repair the levee whose failure flooded the town of Pajaro in March, but the permitting requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act are among the obstacles that might delay the start of larger, systemwide repairs into 2025.
Posted inLatest News
Capitola Wharf repairs to begin in September, with plans to reopen next summer
The Capitola Wharf has been inaccessible since the first week of the year, when raging swells from the winter storms damaged wharf infrastructure and split the deck. With a project to repair and strengthen the wharf set to begin next month, project leads hope to avoid further winter weather delays.
Posted inLatest News
8 months after storms, California disaster relief slowly flows to undocumented workers who lost homes, income
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised $95 million would help undocumented workers rebuild after winter storms and floods. Months later, $18 million is being doled out and there are translation issues with the state’s website.
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As threat of El Niño winter looms, Newsom signs order to hasten levee repairs
Restoring levees is crucial to public safety, but critics say Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order also comes at the expense of rules designed to protect the environment. The move comes after disastrous flooding in the Pajaro Valley and elsewhere amid last winter’s storms.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Valley fever could hit California hard; the drought-to-downpour cycle is to blame
After California’s record-breaking winter rains, public health officials are warning about an increased risk for valley fever, caused by a dustborne fungus. On the Central Coast, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties historically see high rates of infection.
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Winter’s floodwaters have receded in the Pajaro Valley, leaving behind fertile ground for lawsuits
As in the wake of flooding that hit the Pajaro Valley in 1995, an ugly and protracted litigation phase appears to be ramping up following this winter’s disaster, with residents of Watsonville among hundreds pursuing claims against a variety of local and state entities.
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Watsonville, Pajaro residents send warning shot as winter flood lawsuits against governments appear imminent
The City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and a number of local and state agencies have been named in claims made by hundreds of residents on both sides of the Pajaro River, according to the Los Angeles-based firm representing them; those claims are a precursor for a potential mass-action lawsuit.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As Big Pharma opioid settlement cash trickles into county coffers, officials turn to community for input
The first installment of the more than $26 million Santa Cruz County is due from a national settlement is in the county’s 2023-24 budget, and residents will be surveyed on how they’d like to see it spent.