Blacksmith Hammer-In Roaring Camp Railroads Festivals Local News 

Fire and Steel: Local Blacksmith Womans the Forge at Roaring Camp

By Julie Horner Anna Bobisuthi is a blacksmith and fabricator who creates art from steel, her hammer ringing clear and strong beneath the redwoods at Roaring Camp Railroads. The Boulder Creek native said, “I first started blacksmithing when I was 12, learning from books and then from YouTube.” Honing her skills first from a traditional fired forge and then from… Read More
Fire Recovery Local News 

Remembering the CZU Fire Two Years Later

By Julie Horner It has been two years since the CZU Lightning Complex Fire unleashed its fury in the Santa Cruz Mountains, destroying 1,490 buildings including a number of historic structures and 911 residential homes. The fire wiped out entire communities, displaced hundreds of families, and blackened devastating swaths of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, parts of the Fall Creek… Read More
CZU fire burn zone Column: MC Dwyer Fire Recovery Local News 

CZU Fire Rebuilding by the Numbers

By M.C. Dwyer As we approach the two year anniversary of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, I submitted questions to Santa Cruz County’s Recovery Permit Center at the Planning Department regarding the pace of rebuilding in the CZU zone. The following responses were provided via email from Carolyn Burke, Assistant Director at the Permit Center.  Is it true that out… Read More
Art Boulder Creek 

Boulder Creek Elementary Sensory Path

Boulder Creek artist and BCE parent Jennifer Wildermuth Reyes brightens the schoolyard and encourages kids’ health with the completion of a “sensory path” at the campus in Boulder Creek, California. By Julie Horner On a scorching mid-August afternoon, a sole painter with a clutch of brushes dabs details in acrylic onto a banana slug on a log floating down a… Read More
Fire Recovery Infrastructure Local News 

PG&E Helicopter Activity in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has responded to multiple queries regarding the low-flying helicopter activity that began on Monday in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The utility is surveying power lines using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. The activity will continue through August 22 according to a spokesperson.   In a press statement, PG&E’s Communications Representative Mayra Tostado said,… Read More
Column: MC Dwyer Columns Real Estate 

Pandemic Fueled Housing Market Frenzy Recedes

By M.C. Dwyer For the past few years, home sellers drove the market. Many homes sold for profitable premiums, leaving home buyers frustrated and battered by competition. In just the past few months, the pendulum is swinging back towards the center due to rapid economic changes: higher inflation and mortgage rates, and recession concerns. After the cost of home ownership… Read More