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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

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Paid parking, road repairs and scanter reserves: Inside the draft Santa Cruz County budget

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-10T13:00:37-07:00June 9, 2026|Tags: budget, Featured, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors|

Weigh in on draft budget in meetings Wednesday and Thursday

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Eight-story Front Street proposal goes to Planning Commission Thursday

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-08T09:47:07-07:00June 3, 2026|Tags: 201 Front St., Featured, front street, housing, Jesse Kathan, Santa Cruz Planning Commission|

Site now occupied by Ace Hardware

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Mayoral race: Coonerty leads a field of five in early count

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-05T16:21:10-07:00June 2, 2026|Tags: 2026 elections, Featured, Jesse Kathan, June 2 2026 election, Santa Cruz Mayor|

No runoff if preliminary results hold

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Nuñez inches over 50% of the vote for District 4 Santa Cruz County Supervisor

By Jesse Kathan|2026-06-05T16:53:35-07:00June 2, 2026|Tags: 2026 elections, Elias Gonzales, Featured, Felipe Hernandez, Jesse Kathan, June 2 2026 election, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, Tony Nuñez|

Gap between the three candidates grows