Letter to the editor Infrastructure Letters 

Letter: SLV Residents Struggle through 5 PGE Outages this Past Week

Dear Supervisor Bruce McPherson, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Assemblymember Mark Stone Stone, Senator John Laird, I’m sure you are well aware that we are on our fourth consecutive day of power loss.  There have been five outages in the past week. Residents are weary of struggling to find ways to get work done; parents are tired of sitting in their cars… Read More
Zayante Fire Chief Dan Walters Fire Recovery Local News 

Meet Dan Walters, Zayante’s New Fire Chief

By Mary Andersen After 33 years serving Santa Cruz and Felton fire districts, longtime local Dan Walters is overseeing the Zayante Fire Protection District. He succeeded outgoing chief John Stipes at the end of July this year. “My main goal going forward is to educate the community on the fire risks that continue today and then to improve opportunities for… Read More
Laura Testa Reyes Local News Radio Valley People 

Radio Active: Resounding Women’s Voices

By Julie Horner Pure dedication. Nearly every Sunday since the winter of 1989, Boulder Creek’s Laura Testa-Reyes makes the trek over the hill to run the Wimmin’s Music Program on KKUP 91.5 FM in Cupertino. “Laura Testa,” as she is called on-air, is a passionate feminist radio programmer whose inspiration comes from music written and performed by women. She hosts… Read More
Last Chance Road by Julie Horner Fire Recovery Local News 

Fire Recovery Lags

By Jayme Ackemann When a 4Leaf, Inc. consulting geologist made three trips to Last Chance resident Ali McCargo’s Davenport property and couldn’t find it – Ali became concerned. Santa Cruz County promised a “streamlined process” when San Lorenzo Valley residents began returning to their fire-devastated communities. But fire survivors are asking what that really meant as we reflect on the… Read More
Henflings Ben Lomond Local News Music 

Henflings: Still a Community Hub

By Michele Murphy When rumors became reality and the historic Henflings Tavern was to be closed and shuttered back in 2018, resident bartender Erin (then Zimmerman) Miller, and her husband, Josh, seized the opportunity to try their hands at running the iconic and infamous live music venue.  Josh and Erin heard that the previous owner wasn’t planning to renew his… Read More
autumnal equinox Astrology Columns 

Astrology: Autumn Harvest and Celebration

By Catie Cadge, PhD Welcome to the Santa Cruz Cosmic Weather Report – Evolutionary Astrology of the moment, your moment in time, our collective moment of change! Fall begins in the northern hemisphere with the autumnal equinox, September 22nd. Equinox – “Equal day/equal night” – occurs when the Sun makes its ingress into the sign, Libra. Daylight and nighttime balance… Read More
Belladonna Lillies Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Preparing for Fall Planting

By Josh Reilly Fall is the season of bedrock Puritan virtues in the garden, like delayed gratification, preparedness, hard work, and thrift. It’s the best time to plant perennials, shrubs, trees, bulbs, many leafy vegetables, vines, and almost everything else (except bare root roses, best planted in January). In the San Lorenzo Valley, Fall brings the rain. Hence, savings on… Read More