Santa Cruz County Local News: Resilience

In this program, State Senator John Laird and Executive Director of Consumer Watchdog, Carmen Balber discuss California's homeowner's insurance crisis and whether Commissioner Ricardo Lara's proposed fixes will actually help the flight of insurance companies from the state or make it worse.

The Wharf House Restaurant and the Boat and Bait Shop on the Capitola Wharf were torn down and toted away over the past few weeks as part of major repair and rebuilding of the historic landmark.

Felicia Van Stolk of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History explains how a California native-plant garden benefits wildlife in the neighborhood and beyond.

California State Parks staff continues to move forward with the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Facilities Management Plan (BBFMP).

Beavers create unburned islands where plants and animals can shelter from megafires, research has confirmed. A movement is afoot to reintroduce the rodents to the state's waterways.

Still rebuilding one year later, Pajaro River Levee repairs on track.

Jerry Castro has lived in the same house on Jonathan Street in Pajaro all his life. His parents owned it before him, he then bought it off of them. His children and their children were also raised there. Now, more than a year after the Pajaro flood threatened to wash decades of memories away, Castro feels lucky.

Julie Horner guides the reader through a visit through the 522-acre park still recovering from the Martin and CZU fires.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, recently convened a community roundtable on the expansion of broadband and cellular service in Boulder Creek.

Santa Cruz city leaders on Wednesday said 121 unhoused people moved into permanent housing in the city since 2022, and hundreds more were served by homeless service programs. They also renewed calls for more city money to address homelessness because millions in one-time funds are expected to run out in July.

Supervisors and resident cite public safety in bid to keep their copper landlines. AT&T claims that people living in rural areas where there are no other viable options will be able to keep their landlines.

In January AT&T applied to the California Public Utilities Commission to withdraw service to its landline customers. Many in the Santa Cruz Mountains depend on landline service during emergencies.