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01/21/2025

On Jan. 21, Workforce Santa Cruz County announced a series of 12 community forums starting Wednesday, Jan. 29, for locals to share insights on workforce needs and ideas for a strategic plan going forward.

On Jan. 21, Workforce Santa Cruz County announced a series of 12 community forums starting Wednesday, Jan. 29, for locals to share insights on workforce needs a

01/19/2025

Some people think it’s a miracle, some people think it’s a disaster. That’s the story of “Flight Behavior,” a novel by Barbara Kingsolver chosen for Our Community Reads in Aptos, Capitola, Scotts Valley and Felton by the Friends of Aptos Library.

The story follows Dellarobia Turnbow, a 28-year-old housewife and mother who discovers millions of monarch butterflies displaced from Mexico in the valley behind her home in Tennessee.
The timing is perfect as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to list the monarch butterfly as endangered and designate critical habitat as the western migratory population has declined by more than 95% since the 1980s. To comment by March 12, go to regulations.gov and www.fws.gov/monarch.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Natural Bridges State Park, 2531 W. Ciff Drive, Santa Cruz will host the 38th Annual Migration Festival celebrating migratory creature such as monarch butterflies that come to the Santa Cruz coast every year.

Some people think it’s a miracle, some people think it’s a disaster. That’s the story of “Flight Behavior,” a novel by Barbara Kingsolver chosen for O

01/18/2025

The City of Capitola is now accepting applications from qualified residents to fill a vacancy on the Capitola City Council. The vacancy was created by the resignation of Yvette Brooks during the Jan. 9 council meeting.

At that meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to fill the vacancy by appointment rather than a special election, avoiding an estimated cost of approximately $50,000 to Capitola taxpayers.

On Jan. 16, the City Council held a special meeting to receive a status update on the appointment process. Following public feedback, the Council decided to open the appointment process to applicants interested in serving on Council and to review applications at the regular City Council meeting on Jan. 30.
Call to Action for Capitola Residents
Capitola residents who are registered voters and at least 18 years of age are invited to apply for potential appointment to City Council to serve until December 2026.

The City of Capitola is now accepting applications from qualified residents to fill a vacancy on the Capitola City Council. The vacancy was created by the resig

01/18/2025

The Haute Enchilada in Moss Landing welcomed an unexpected surprise on New Year’s Eve — an early barn owl egg from a new owl couple living in its custom-installed nest box.
Traditionally, barn owls lay their eggs later in January or February, making this event both rare and extraordinary.

This egg marks the first clutch for the new pair, affectionately named TJ and Tina, continuing a legacy of barn owls at the Haute Enchilada that began in 2016.
The restaurant partnered with Humane Wildlife Control Inc. to install a barn owl nest box as part of its rodent control program. Since then, the nest box has been not only a cornerstone of eco-friendly pest management but also a symbol of the restaurant’s dedication to sustainable practices.
The original owl residents, Teco and Lotte, captured the hearts of staff and visitors alike, raising numerous owlets until Lotte tragically passed in 2018.

The Haute Enchilada in Moss Landing welcomed an unexpected surprise on New Year’s Eve — an early barn owl egg from a new owl couple living in its custom-ins

01/17/2025

The seven-member Pajaro Valley Unified School District board has three members following the November election and new leaders.
In December, newly elected trustees: Gabriel Medina, Trustee Area III, Carol Turley, Trustee Area II, and Jessica Carrasco, Trustee Area VI, took their oath of office.
Then the board chose a new president, Olivia Flores and vice president/clerk Dr. Misty Navarro.

Flores, a graduate of Watsonville High with a degree in architecture, was elected in 2022 on a platform of “Safety, Education and employing well-paid certificated teachers in every classroom.” She has three children and owns a design and construction business with her husband.
Navarro is an Aptos parent and an emergency medicine physician who has worked for Salinas Valley Health for the past 16 years.
In 2025, the board will meet every third Wednesday with closed session at 5 p.m. and public session at 6 p.m. at the district office.

Times Publishing Group, Inc. has been serving our community for 33 years. We are located on the Central Coast of California, a Multi-media News, and information source.

01/17/2025

Halfway through the first month of the year already!?

Read our January 15th issue of the Aptos Times✨

01/17/2025

Can Latino farmworkers become successful organic farmers?
For the nonprofit Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association known as ALBA, the answer is absolutely yes.

ALBA offers the Programa Educativo para Agricultores known as PEPA, a mix of classroom instruction and hands-on fieldwork, to provide aspiring farmers with the skills to launch and manage their own organic farming businesses.
Former PEPA student Gonzalo Najera now operates his own farm and trains others in sustainable pest management.
Alejandra Madrigal, another graduate, shares her passion for farming, saying, “This work is in my heart. ALBA has given me the opportunity to live my dream.”
Yuni Silva, a PEPA participant, adds, “Harvesting specialty crops has been an eye-opening experience.

Can Latino farmworkers become successful organic farmers? For the nonprofit Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association known as ALBA, the answer is absolu

01/16/2025

The She Adventures Film Tour announces its return at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz for another year of celebrating and honoring adventure women around the world.
This year’s screening — 2½ hours — will support Girls ROCK, an informal women’s mountain biking group. Tickets are $21 at eventbrite.com.
More info: riotheatre.com
•••
List of films (not necessarily in order):
23.4 Degrees — 10 minutes: This poetic film captures the essence of the Great Outdoors, showcasing the beauty of seasonal changes in the mountains.
Freea Ferrata — 14 minutes: two local climbers set their sights on making the first free ascent of the famed Telluride Via Ferrata.
Above the Noise — 6 minutes: Polish athlete Maja Kuczynska, how her career as a Redbull Skydiver provides a refuge from today’s chaos.

It Will Be Different For You — Lea Davison has always found her power through riding a mountain bike.

The She Adventures Film Tour announces its return at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz for another year of celebrating and honoring adv

01/16/2025

Diamond is a 12-year-old rescued mare in need of a new home. She needs a person to love and take care of her.
Being a rescue means her life has already been at risk, at least one time.
Tragedy struck and her owner is now living as an amputee.
Lynn Hummer, founder of Pregnant Mare Rescue in Aptos, reports the woman re-homing Diamond has been taking care of her costs for a year, but cannot keep it up.
“We know thus far that she may not be 100% sound. Several X-rays reveal only flat coffin bones, which have been corrected with shoes. Could it be a soft tissue issue? We don’t have any more information.”
•••
Diamond is living in Larkin Valley. If you’d like to obtain more information about her, text or call 831-247-9008. Ask for Wauhillau.

Diamond is a 12-year-old rescued mare in need of a new home. She needs a person to love and take care of her. Being a rescue means her life has already been at

01/15/2025

Let’s get our creative juices flowing! It’s time for the Santa Cruz County Fair Annual Fair Theme Contest!

The Fairgrounds invites the community to submit theme ideas that reflect the vibrant spirit of our diverse community. The theme should also touch on one or more of the following topics: Youth in Agriculture, Crafting and Arts in Santa Cruz, Stepping into the Future, Coastal Life or Celebrating Agriculture.
The winner will receive four complimentary tickets to the 2025 Santa Cruz County Fair and a complimentary parking pass.
The deadline for entries is January 31st at 5pm.
Please submit by email to: [email protected]
Or in-person/mail to:
Santa Cruz County Fair, Theme Contest
2601 East Lake Avenue
Watsonville, CA 95076
The 2025 Santa Cruz County Fair will be held September 10th-14th.
For more information on the Fair, year-round entertainment and event venue rentals… please visit www.santacruzcountyfair.com.

01/15/2025

Monarch Mystery: Our Community Reads: Flight Behavior • New Year’s Eve Surprise — First Egg: For New Barn Owl Pair at Haute Enchilada • County Fair CEO Steps Down • Feds Give SCCRTC $19.5 Million for Coastal Rail Trail • Eduardo Montesino Chairs RTC • Oliva Flores Voted President of PVUSD Board • Apply for Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board by Jan. 24 • PVUSD To Consider Budget Cuts: Reasons Include Drop in Enrollment, Pandemic Funds Lost, By Jondi Gumz • Latinos Lead the Way in Organic Farming, Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association Goal: $2 Million to Expand Training • She Adventures Film Tour Returns Jan.

 Monarch Mystery: Our Community Reads: Flight Behavior • New Year’s Eve Surprise — First Egg: For New Barn Owl Pair at Haute Enchilada • County

01/15/2025

Monarch Mystery: Our Community Reads: Flight Behavior • New Year’s Eve Surprise — First Egg: For New Barn Owl Pair at Haute Enchilada • County Fair CEO Steps Down • Feds Give SCCRTC $19.5 Million for Coastal Rail Trail • Eduardo Montesino Chairs RTC • Oliva Flores Voted President of PVUSD Board • Apply for Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board by Jan. 24 • PVUSD To Consider Budget Cuts: Reasons Include Drop in Enrollment, Pandemic Funds Lost, By Jondi Gumz • Latinos Lead the Way in Organic Farming, Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association Goal: $2 Million to Expand Training • She Adventures Film Tour Returns Jan.

Times Publishing Group, Inc. has been serving our community for 33 years. We are located on the Central Coast of California, a Multi-media News, and information source.

01/14/2025

By Jondi Gumz
These kids at Main Street Elementary School in Soquel love science.
They are in the state-funded Expanded Learning Opportunities Program.

Once a week, these 20 students in grades 1-5 stay after school to learn about science. Each week, they did experiments with their instructor Mandi Lopez. An instructional aide for 11 years, she provides positive behavior supports for students.
At the end of the semester, the students wanted to put on a science fair.
Each one got to pick an experiment, get their chemicals, write what they did on display boards and explain it to visitors.
Ethan, 9, shared his recipe for starch dough: ¾ cup cornstarch and ½ cup hair conditioner.

It smelled good and it was fun to squeeze.
Lopez said Ethan, a third grader, didn’t get the right formula on the first try.
At first it was too powdery.
So he added more liquid, but it was too much.
So he added more powder until it the dough was just right.

Times Publishing Group, Inc. has been serving our community for 33 years. We are located on the Central Coast of California, a Multi-media News, and information source.

01/14/2025

On Dec. 12, Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health announced that Mobile Crisis Response Teams are now available 24/7/365 to respond to behavioral health crises for youth and adults across Santa Cruz County, including the cities of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Scotts Valley, Capitola, and all unincorporated areas.
Yes, that means weekends.
The expanded hours “bring Santa Cruz County in line with a state mandate and our Crisis Now Innovation Project,” Health Services spokeswoman Sandra Hughes said.
“Our services are supported in part by the C.R.I.S.E.S. grant (staffing) and Crisis Care Mobile Units (CCMU) grant (infrastructure),” she added.
The Mobile Crisis Response Team helps remove barriers to crisis support access by meeting individuals where they are — whether that’s a park, school, or other safe location, including faith-based sites.

On Dec. 12, Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health announced that Mobile Crisis Response Teams are now available 24/7/365 to respond to behavioral health crises fo

01/13/2025

By Jondi Gumz
On Jan. 6, Ginger Shulick Porcella will become executive director at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History known as MAH.
As a 34-year-old from New York becoming director of the Institute for Contemporary Art San Diego, she made that institution a place everybody talked about. Then she was an agent of change as executive director of Franconia Sculpture Park. As executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, she secured grants focusing on the work of female LGBTQIA’s and doubled attendance. Mostly recently she spent a year as executive director at the nonprofit Creative Growth with 34 staff supporting artists with disabilities in Oakland where workers voted to unionize.
On Instagram, she describes herself as “Devil-may-care rebel cowgirl.

By Jondi Gumz On Jan. 6, Ginger Shulick Porcella will become executive director at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History known as MAH. As a 34-year-old f

01/13/2025

On Dec. 10, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors authorized Supervisor Zach Friend to write a letter to Gov. Newsom, on behalf of the Board, regarding the current state of emergency for homeowners and commercial property insurance, requesting the governor take immediate steps to strengthen and stabilize the property insurance market through regulatory and legislative action.
Here is the staff report:
•••
California is facing a growing homeowner and commercial property crisis across the state. While the California Insurance Commissioner’s Office continues to implore insurance providers to return to the marketplace and write policies, progress has been stagnant with little reprieve for residents in Santa Cruz County and across the state.
The lack of available insurance options and long-term viability of the California insurance market could halt real estate transactions and delay or prevent new housing development, worsening the existing housing crisis.

On Dec. 10, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors authorized Supervisor Zach Friend to write a letter to Gov. Newsom, on behalf of the Board, regarding the

01/12/2025

By Jondi Gumz
To settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Tamario Smith, 21, who died in custody at the county jail, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a settlement of a settlement of $2,210,000 during closed session on Oct. 29, according to Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin.
It took several weeks to execute and finalize the payment, he said.
Smith, one of 13 children, moved from Stockton to Santa Cruz County with his family in 2001. He attended Live Oak Elementary School, Shoreline Middle School and graduated from Louden Nelson Community High School. He was a member of the Word of Life Church in Santa Cruz.
He was jailed on a domestic violence charge and had been in custody for four months when he died in solitary confinement May 10, 2020. Initially the county forensic pathologist determined the cause of death to be acute water intoxication, due to the over consumption of water in a short time, attributed to mental health issues.

By Jondi Gumz To settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Tamario Smith, 21, who died in custody at the county jail, the Santa Cruz County Board