Madyson Middleton’s killer recounts his crimes in second day of testimony
SANTA CRUZ — During his second day on the stand Thursday, Adrian “A.J.” Gonzalez described the timeline and the details of the kidnap, rape and murder of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton in July...
View ArticleState Parks to resume pile burning at Forest of Nisene Marks State Park on...
APTOS — California State Parks is planning to resume its pile burning efforts in the northern portion of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park Monday, the agency announced in a release Friday. As has...
View ArticlePhoto | Former WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw speaks at 41st UC Santa Cruz MLK...
Former WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw spoke her truth Thursday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena as the keynote speaker at the 41st UC Santa Cruz MLK Convocation. The annual event celebrates the life and...
View ArticlePhoto | Beachgoer searches for treasure with metal detector at Sunny Cove in...
The colors of a pastel sunset are reflected in the surf zone at Sunny Cove in Live Oak as a scavenger employs a metal detector at low tide to hunt for buried treasure.
View ArticleAptos native Nikki Hiltz blazes to 3,000 win at John Thomas Terrier Classic...
Aptos native Nikki Hiltz, 30, blazed in the women’s 3,000-meter run at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University on Friday. Not enough to break the facility record Karissa Schweitzer in...
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Watsonville makes 14 3-pointers in win over Monte Vista Christian | Local...
Max Aceves made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead Watsonville High boys basketball team past Monte Vista Christian 81-55 in the teams’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division game on...
View ArticlePhoto | Tulips blossom in the winter along Santa Cruz’s Chestnut Street
A tulip magnolia tree blooms in glorious color this week on Chestnut Street in downtown Santa Cruz. The species is native to east and southeast Asia, as well as parts of South America. They are members...
View ArticlePhoto | Red-tailed hawk hunts from vantage point at Santa Cruz High School’s...
A red-tailed hawk sits atop the flagpole at Santa Cruz High’s Memorial Field during a recent afternoon. According to Global Raptor Conservation’s hawkmountain.org website, “Although red-tailed hawks...
View ArticleTracey Weiss, Our Ocean Backyard | Moss Landing battery fire and regional...
On Jan. 16, a large smoke plume rose above Moss Landing power plant and Elkhorn Slough. The lithium-ion battery array at Vistra’s Moss Landing energy storage facility is one of the largest in the world...
View ArticleFocal Point | Little league park in Capitola, 1940s
In February, major league baseball pitchers and catchers report for spring training and many little leaguers throughout the country also get ready for the national pastime. This photo shows some little...
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California farms fail as land values plunge amid groundwater crisis
There was a time when the water under Nick Sahota’s Terra Bella farm was free and abundant, supporting tidy rows of pistachio trees and table grapes to supply Bay Area groceries like Costco, Food 4...
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Ancient alphabetic writing unearthed by UC Santa Cruz professor remains a...
SANTA CRUZ — While a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, UC Santa Cruz history professor Elaine Sullivan unearthed ancient artifacts in Syria marked with an alphabetic script whose meaning...
View ArticleMark Primack | Change permit process for rebuilding after fires
I’ve written about fires once or twice and so hesitate to repeat myself or others. But fires aren’t letting up. They’ll keep repeating themselves. I remember the dismay I felt when reading about all...
View ArticleMegan McArdle | Trump, Musk about to learn a hard government lesson
It’s clear that Elon Musk hopes to run his Twitter playbook on the U.S. government. That is: launch an aggressive plan to reduce headcount, not just to reduce costs but also to shed unproductive...
View ArticleDraymond Green upgraded to questionable for Monday’s game against Magic
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors are close to having their defensive ace back into the rotation. Draymond Green, who has been out since Jan. 18 with a strained left calf, was a full participant at...
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Shorthanded Warriors bust loose for season-high point total in G League win...
Minus some of their top contributors, the Santa Cruz Warriors turned in a golden performance in their 146-132 win over the Grand Rapids Gold in front of 2,476 fans at the teams’ NBA G League game at...
View ArticlePhoto | Catch the Wave
The sculpture, often referred to as “The Wave” at Porter College acts as a perch for a student on a recent afternoon. The sculpture was created in 1974 by Porter College art student Kenny Ferrell as...
View ArticlePhoto | Lighthouse Point a hotspot for surfers and birds
Surfers atop Lighthouse Point in stretch while observing the swell and currents before heading out for a session at Steamer Lane. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
View ArticleInaugural Winter Warmer Festival brings music and fun to forest
FELTON — Once again, the cold winter temperatures have descended upon Santa Cruz County. Residents might already be used to bundling up or scraping frost off their windshields, but isn’t there a way to...
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Name Dropping | Lovina Wildermuth-Reyes of Nature Academy wins Santa Cruz...
Lovina Wildermuth-Reyes of Nature Academy (San Lorenzo Valley Charter School) claimed first place in the 2025 Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee’s Junior Division. Aria Menon of Pacific Collegiate School...
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