Watsonville youth work with Santa Cruz METRO to stock up on healthier snacks

For the hungry bus riders of Santa Cruz County, the only options currently found in vending machines at Santa Cruz METRO stations are sugary drinks and junk food like donuts, candy bars, and high-fat chips. The lack of choices and a desire for something healthier spurred Watsonville-based youth advocacy group Jovenes SANOS to take action.

“All it takes is someone to step up,” says Jovenes SANOS member Miguel Murillo, who attends Cabrillo College and has been involved with the group for three years.

A look at the ongoing USDA investigation into a local medical lab

There is a cruel irony in the fact that the local medical production lab, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. develops antibodies and animal healthcare products—products such as vaccines, antibiotics and pain relievers for ranch animals, like goats—but has also repeatedly violated the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by allowing many of the goats that they use for producing those antibodies to suffer horribly and, in some cases, die.

Boulder Creek meets to discuss Town Plan and improvements still to be made

The main drag in Boulder Creek is dotted with historical architecture, quaint awnings and signage reminiscent of the western frontier village the small Santa Cruz Mountain town was during the end of the 19th century. Just past the diminutive downtown, tree-studded hills make Boulder Creek what Nancy Owens calls “the gateway to the redwood forest.”

Santa Cruz has seen a lot of violent crime so far this year. What is being done at the state level to help the area’s problem with violent crime?

Two of our Santa Cruz police officers were killed in the line of duty last month while trying to keep our community safe. We paid our respects to them and their families last week at their memorial service, and vowed to keep such terrible acts from happening again. Sadly, their sacrifice was not a lone, tragic incident—rather, they were part of an alarming increase in violent crime facing the region. 

Below are photos from the procession for the Thursday, March 7 memorial for Sgt. Loran “Butch” Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler as it made its way down Ocean Street, en route to the memorial in San Jose. 

Left: A Los Angeles Police Department officer pays his respects. 

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Amid local spike in gun violence, the Board of Supervisors regulates firearms retailers

“At this very moment in Santa Cruz, there is gun violence happening.”

This announcement was made while helicopters circled overhead and sirens screeched in the near distance, as residents of Santa Cruz County came together to make their voices heard about the recent increase in gun violence at both a local and national level.

The rally, which took place at the Clock Tower in Downtown Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Feb. 26, was put on by the recently formed local group Community Against Gun Violence. That same afternoon, two police officers and one civilian suspect were shot dead near N. Branciforte Avenue and Water Street. It was the first time Santa Cruz had ever lost police officers in the line of duty. By the time he was found, the suspect was wearing body armor and was in possession of three different guns.

Bridging Warriors seeks to improve PTSD treatment options locally

Soquel resident Karen Egan witnessed firsthand how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) changes lives.

Her 26-year-old son Ben Rudolph developed PTSD after surviving a major car accident eight years ago that left him with severe injuries. In the months following the accident, he and Egan visited more than 20 doctors across the country. It wasn't until almost a year after the accident that Rudolph developed PTSD, which the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says is characterized by flashbacks, tension, and emotional numbness.

As memorials roll out for fallen SCPD officers, law enforcement are reminded of the daily risk of their jobs

The loss of two Santa Cruz police officers last week—a first in the department's 150-year history—has left the community feeling broken and the police department reeling. But local law enforcement says the fact that their lives are on the line is something they live with everyday.

“When you get this news, it's shocking and upsetting, and when you get in this line of work you know it's a possibility,” says Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy April Skalland.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Thursday briefings reveal additional information about shooting that killed two Santa Cruz police officers

The two Santa Cruz police detectives who interviewed suspect Jeremy Goulet spoke with him for about 10 minutes through his closed door before he opened fire, said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak during a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Santa Cruz Police Department. The officers never set foot inside of his home. 

During the dialogue, Goulet left his spot behind the door and appeared a moment later in a different location, ambushing Detective Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker and detective Elizabeth Butler and killing them in seconds.

What will become of the Bear Spirit statue?

For 27 years, people outside of the Natural History Museum, near Seabright Beach, have taken notice of a nearly 10-foot-high statue of a nude man merged with a bear as they stroll through Tyrrell Park.

The fate of the statue is up in the air following a vote by the Santa Cruz City Art Commission to stop paying to repair the sculpture, the genitals of which have been repeatedly vandalized over the years.