Santa Cruz News Archives

A large thank you sign is posted below mailboxes on Mount Bache Rd., in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

A study of closing costs says that mortgage brokers charge more than lenders and African-American and Latino communities often pay more, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Friday.

In an effort to go green, the city of Santa Cruz made several pledges a year ago in their climate action plan.

Residents forced to evacuate their homes when the wind-whipped Summit Fire tore through the Santa Cruz Mountains early Thursday morning may be allowed to return as soon as today.

The highway will close in both directions from Morrissey Boulevard to the Highway 1 fishhook at state Highway 17 from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. tonight through Friday morning.

Memorial Day weekend was a mellow one for traffic accidents and crime. Local police had little to report in the way of violence or mayhem around the region....

I suspect the gentleman barely visible beneath officers Cline and Auldrich who had made no effort to resist arrest (ostensibly for a warrant of type unknown) except for his verbal berating of the officers, would not concur on the extent of the "violence or mayhem" in HIS local universe

The Watsonville City Council passed an emergency ordinance Tuesday night that delays further action on a planned expansion of a Watsonville medical facility and any other medical offices for 45 days.

Free admission to every one of California's state parks and beaches all year long? It might happen, if an influential state lawmaker gets his way.

Sherry and Keith Chastain walk down the driveway to their burned out home, along Ormsby Trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near Corralitos, Calif.

Crews are cutting a wildfire in California's Santa Cruz Mountains down to size, aided by cooler weather.

Fire officials say the blaze, which has been burning since Thursday, is 85 percent contained and that they expect full containment later today.

Firefighters are also letting more people back into their homes, with only 15 now considered threatened.

The blaze has destroyed three dozen homes and consumed more than 4,200 acres.

Some evacuees in the fire-ravaged mountains of Santa Cruz were allowed to return to their homes on Monday, while the hardest hit neighborhoods are still closed because of hazards, fire officials said.

The superhero tools of modern medicine can spy tumors, rehabilitate stroke victims and stop heart attacks in their tracks.

Three days after a fast-moving fire whipped through their wildland paradise in the Santa Cruz Mountains, angry and frustrated residents of the tiny town of Corralitos assembled Sunday with a burning question on ...

Firefighters finally turned a corner on the Summit fire on Sunday, but crews weren't ready to let their guard down.

The west wind hadn't let up all night. By early morning, the sound of it thrashing the canyons and agitating houses was joined by others - radio chatter and the crackling of exploding trees.

Tonight, people will be gathering at U.C. Santa Cruz to rally for the prevention of violence against women.

A tree goes up in flames during the Summit Wildfire which broke out along Summit Road and Loma Prieta Road in the Santa Cruz mountains Thursday morning, rapidly consuming 3,000 acres and sparking evacuations ...

Santa Cruz County's Viraj Shah, 11, from Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School won the top prize.

Firefighters have now contained about 25% of a wildfire that has burned centuries old redwoods and pushed thousands out of their homes in California's Santa Cruz Mountains.

Investigators combing the Santa Cruz Mountains believe they have pinpointed the spot where the Summit Fire was sparked Thursday morning.

Mother Nature is helping firefighters battle that wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

CalFire told NBC11 the Summit Fire changed from a wind-driven fire to a fuel-driven fire Friday.

A fast-burning wildfire in Northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains grew to 3,100 acres Friday, prompting rescues and evacuations in two counties, officials said.

Late Thursday afternoon Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the Santa Cruz Mountain fire zone a state of emergency.

Los Angeles county hand crew and fire fighters work to put out hot spots in the foothills of Sierra Madre Sunday, April 27, 2008, in Sierra Madre, Calif.

A wildfire has burned at least 1,700 acres near Mount Madonna County Park about 10 miles west of Gilroy.

The fire started at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday off Summit Road near Loma Prieta Road in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Live video coverage from NBC 11

A large wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains has expanded to over 500 acres. The fire is near Summit and Loma Prieta Roads.

In a stroke of cosmic luck, astronomers for the first time witnessed the start of one of the universe's most fiery events: the end of a star's life as it exploded into a supernova.

Jim Brown, executive director at the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz, said he was incredibly happy when he and millions of other Americans heard that the California Supreme Court voted 4-3 Thursday to legalize ...

An effort to rescue two peregrine falcon chicks from their nest on the underside of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge took a turn for the worse when the chicks were found dead.

“If 17 kids listen to it, maybe one will keep it in their mind”

Bay Area rapper Kontac, aka Stephen Ashford, a physical education teacher at East Palo Alto Charter School, holds a piece of glass that he always carries with him, as he poses for a photo at the school in Palo ... via Inside Bay Area

“We're in a very productive region and there's a lot of hungry people. We should be able to close that gap and provide assistance”

For years now, the artichokes and Brussels sprouts grown by San Mateo County's coastal farmers were always more likely to be trucked to Santa Cruz or flown to New York than to reach the dinner plates of ... via Ledger Dispatch

“Its a fantastic sweet spot _ not too simple, not too complicated, high cultural value”

Edd Hifeng barely merits a second glance in "Second Life." A steel-gray robot with lanky limbs and linebacker shoulders, he looks like a typical avatar in the popular virtual world. via KVML

The free Friday Night concert series also returns starting June 20. Standouts are Eddie Money on July 11, Santana on August 8 and the Tubes on August 29. via Ledger Dispatch

Over 500 cyclists participated in the 4th Annual Rail and Trail Day on Saturday, May 17 2008 to celebrate rail and bike travel and support local efforts to create a 31 mile trail along the Union Pacific rail ... via Cyclelicious

“The Red Cross celebrates these individuals”

Horses at risk for West Nile The county's agricultural commissioner is advising horse owners to have their animals vaccinated to protect against the West Nile virus. via Santa Cruz Sentinel

“The Red Cross celebrates these individuals not because they are extraordinary people, but because they are ordinary people like you and I that, in a moment of great need, made a brave and selfless decision that had extraordinary impact”

Local motorcycle builder on TV Local motorcycle builder Scott Long will appear on Country Music Televisions's reality bike-building show, "The Chopper Challenge." The first episodes featuring Long airs at 8:30 ... via Santa Cruz Sentinel

A chicken pox outbreak has sickened at least 35 youngsters at Scotts Valley schools. via The Modesto Bee

Ramirez is accused of walking on to the schoolyard of Rolling Hills Junior High in Watsonville and shooting two men, killing one and wounding another who survived a bullet to the head back in March of 2003. via KION CBS 46

The loan program is not new, but the county said it is reminding residents now of the availability of the loans in light of the economy and difficulty in securing affordable loans, according to county spokesman ... via KCBA

“On the surface of it, it kind of exasperates the tensions between cyclists and motorists”

A hundred cyclists who were apparently trying to remind motorists to share the road caused disturbances downtown and near the Municipal Wharf on Saturday night, marking the first time in recent years the ... via San Jose Mercury News

“Ano Nuevo is bigger than just the elephant seals. What we plan to do is ensure that people who visit the park are educated.”

The future of Ano Nuevo, the coastside state park 25 miles north of Santa Cruz famous for its Northern elephant seals breeding ground, depends on educating the public, especially school kids. via Inside Bay Area

“We envision this facility serving as a hub for stem cell research on campus”

The center will house an interdisciplinary program involving faculty from five departments at UCSC and collaborators at other institutions. via KION CBS 46

“If it's anything like last year, they'll be actively defending their nest, flying in big circles, with this incredibly loud cakking, shrieking and dive bombing”

Carlos and Clara, the peregrine falcon parents living atop San Jose City Hall, are expected to make quite a fuss when their three babies' legs are banded on May 16 so that scientists can identify them after ... via San Jose Mercury News

“I really appreciate their hard work and their efforts. I think they did a really good job.”

Sheriff's deputies announced late Tuesday they have made an arrest in the September 2006 slaying of Joanna "Asha" Veil, a cashier at the Ben Lomond Market. via Santa Cruz Sentinel

Last Update: 5/08 4:28 pm 05/08/08 MONTEREY, Calif.- Unlike the trial held in Santa Cruz in April, a Monterey judge said today, he will need more time to decide whether the state has the right to spray for the ... via KION

Last Update: 5/08 11:32 pm 05/08/08 SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- California lawmakers are targeting a hallucinogenic herb called salvia divinorum that is widely available here on the Central Coast and is legal in ... via KCBA

“This is truly a momentous day for all of us”

California's stem cell agency Wednesday awarded nearly $271 million in grants to build stem-cell laboratories statewide, with more than $126 million of that designated for universities and other research ... via Palo Alto Daily News

An arrest was made Tuesday night in connection with the killing of a pregnant store clerk in Santa Cruz. via TheKSBWChannel

Officers entered the locked cell and immediately called for medical personnel. Jail medical personnel arrived, followed by ambulance and fire personnel but unfortunately, Kraft did not respond to life-saving ... via KION

“When I first arrived here, my first day, I wanted to go back. My parents weren't here; I didn't speak Spanish very well.”

Martina Jimenez, 24, a Guatemala Mayan from Santiago Chimaltenango, Huehuetenango, is all smiles as she talks about her life on Friday April 4, 2008 at her house in Oakland, Calif. via Inside Bay Area

Archer has performed with some of the biggest names in rock including, Heaven and Hell , Heart and Sevendust. via Earth Times

“Water quality is huge. We all depend on clean water.”

Armed with a bucket full of sample bottles and other water-testing equipment, 60 volunteers spanned out from Natural Bridges State Beach on Saturday morning to streams and sloughs across the county to take part ... via Santa Cruz Sentinel

A Santa Cruz judge has ruled a Live Oak man will be tried on a voluntary manslaughter charge, not murder, for last year's beach bonfire stabbing death of an Arizona teenager. via KION CBS 46

Today the American Lung Association will release their State of the Air Report. Along with Salinas and Santa Cruz, Fargo, North Dakota and Palm Beach, Florida were reported to have little pollution in it's air. via KION CBS 46

Groups throughout the Bay Area are continuing to rally against the state's plan to use aerial spraying to eradicate the light brown apple moth. via KRON-TV San Francisco