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Two competing visions for Bay and Escalona intersection in Santa Cruz

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-25T07:47:51-07:00August 25, 2026|Tags: Bay Street, Escalona Drive, Featured, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz City Council, transportation|

Decision at Tuesday council meeting

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Tell us what local issues you care about. We’ll press candidates running for office.

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-20T08:41:40-07:00August 20, 2026|Tags: 2026 elections, Capitola City Council, Featured, november 2026 election, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Scotts Valley City Council, Vote Nov. 3, Watsonville City Council|

Help us create a voting guide for Scotts Valley, Capitola, Watsonville, Santa Cruz Mayor and school districts

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As big buildings come to Santa Cruz, leaders want suggestions to make them less ugly

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-14T14:26:52-07:00August 17, 2026|Tags: developers, Featured, housing, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz City Council|

Survey open through August

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With new funds, Felton Fire looks to hire

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-14T14:02:01-07:00August 14, 2026|Tags: Featured, Felton, Felton Fire Protection District, Jesse Kathan|

Citizen oversight, budget to be discussed next month

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Santa Cruz County election preview: tax proposals, city council fights, empty seats

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-08T09:38:05-07:00August 7, 2026|Tags: Ami Chen Mills, Capitola City Council, Casey Clark, Featured, Felton Fire Protection District, Kristal Salcido, Maria Orozco, Nancy Bilicich, Nov. 3 2026 election, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Ryan Coonerty, Scotts Valley City Council, Watsonville City Council|

Filing remains open for some seats until Wednesday

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Up to 281 apartments proposed on Seabright Avenue in Santa Cruz

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-08T22:43:06-07:00August 7, 2026|Tags: development, Featured, housing, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz City Council, Workbench|

Plus other major housing and development projects

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Santa Cruz transportation leaders weigh loans for highway, rail trail projects

By Jesse Kathan|2026-08-07T18:58:55-07:00August 5, 2026|Tags: Coastal Rail Trail, Featured, Highway 1, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission|

Santa Cruz transportation leaders weigh loans for highway, rail trail projects

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How Big Soda nearly killed Measure Z in Santa Cruz

By Jesse Kathan and Elena DeBre|2026-07-23T12:28:10-07:00July 22, 2026|Tags: City of Santa Cruz, Featured, Felipe Hernandez, health, Hector Marin, investigation, Jesse Kathan, Measure Z, soda tax|

Part 2: How voters fought back against pressure by the beverage industry

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A decade ago, a soda tax effort fizzled in Watsonville. Advocates blame Big Beverage.

By Jesse Kathan and Elena DeBre|2026-07-24T17:49:22-07:00July 22, 2026|Tags: City of Watsonville, Featured, Felipe Hernandez, health, investigation, Jesse Kathan, soda tax|

Part 1: Industry leans on elected leaders of color to defend against regulation, experts say

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As Felton Fire faces mounting financial challenges, an assessment proposal divides residents

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-30T18:21:08-07:00June 30, 2026|Tags: Featured, Felton, Felton Fire, Felton Fire Protection District, Jesse Kathan, LAFCO, santa cruz county fire, Zayante Fire Protection District|

Ballots due July 24

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Over 100 seats across Santa Cruz County are up for election. Here’s why they matter.

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-27T14:20:09-07:00June 29, 2026|Tags: 2026 elections, election, Featured, Jesse Kathan, november 3 election, Santa Cruz County|

Candidate info sessions Monday and Tuesday

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How is your police department using Flock data?

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-19T09:17:38-07:00June 18, 2026|Tags: Featured, Flock, Flock Safety, Jesse Kathan, surveillance|

A guide for California reporters and researchers