Guest Commentary | Two solutions to provide urgently needed help with...
By Marty Allred California’s market for homeowners insurance is broken. Across the state, but especially in areas with higher natural disaster risks (such as the Santa Cruz Mountains and other forested...
View ArticleStephen Kessler | The sky’s the limit in Santa Cruz’s SoHi district
As the world turns, the globe burns, the planet quakes and the nation bakes, in search of relief from their overheated imaginations, more and more millions of people are migrating to the cool shores of...
View ArticleMark Primack | For privileged homeowners, our turn is up
Columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote recently on the failure of West Coast cities. It wasn’t a forecast; more a post mortem. If you’re reading this now and you’re not nodding your head in affirmation then,...
View ArticlePhoto | Southern sea otter enjoys a snack in kelp near Indicators Surf Break...
A southern sea otter (not Otter 841!) enjoys the seafood bounty among the kelp a few yards from West Cliff Drive, near Indicators Surf Break, in Santa Cruz. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary...
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Aptos native Nikki Hiltz qualifies for Olympics with historic showing in...
If the world didn’t about Nikki Hiltz before, they do now. The 29-year-old, nonbinary runner used a late kick to win the women’s 1,500-meter final on Day 10 of the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team...
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Giants seal series win over Dodgers with rout | Glimpse of the Action
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton delivers in the first inning during a MLB game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Sunday. (Raul Ebio - Santa Cruz Sentinel)A young San...
View ArticleSecond Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County makes commitment to inclusion
While this year’s Pride Month just ended, Second Harvest Food Bank says its sticks to its principle of inclusion year-round. Cameron Haste, executive vice president/COO at Bay Federal Credit Union,...
View ArticleWatsonville Planning Commission to consider duplex near Watsonville High
WATSONVILLE — A special use permit for a duplex on an existing property on Elm Street, just down the block from Watsonville High School’s football stadium, will go before the Watsonville Planning...
View ArticleSanta Cruz County offers no shortage of Fourth of July fun
SANTA CRUZ — This Thursday marks America’s 248th birthday, which means Americans from all over will be firing up their barbecues, unfurling their flags and securing a good spot to watch fireworks. That...
View ArticleGuest Commentary | It’s time to ban the plastic bag once and for all
By Ashley Blacow-Draeger I have been drawn to the oceans since a young age, fascinated by what lies below the beautiful blue surface with clues brought to us from another world by the sampling of rich...
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Photos | Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro rocks the Rio Theatre
The Rio Theatre is filled for Sunday night's show. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro plays Sunday night to a sold-out house at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz....
View ArticleHeat illness, fire risk top concerns heading into first Santa Cruz County...
SANTA CRUZ — With Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area bracing for the first major heat wave of the year, local officials are urging the public to be cool when it comes to both body temperature and some...
View ArticleSanta Cruz math teacher faces child sex crime charges
SANTA CRUZ — A 42-year-old high school math teacher is facing arraignment this week on allegations of “grooming” a 17-year-old student with alleged intention of child sexual exploitation, police said...
View ArticleLetter | Op-ed on ethnic studies was ‘fear mongering’
It is really difficult to believe that Doug Kaplan (Guest Commentary, June 19, “Pajaro Valley Unified School District ethnic studies curriculum is divisive”) is genuinely concerned about “divisiveness”...
View ArticleLetter | Ranked open primaries could boost independents
Most voters want middle of the road, competency. In states that always elect Republicans (or Democrats) the election is decided in the primary by the most partisan voters. In some cases by a 5% slice...
View ArticleLetter | Gratitude for those who protest injustice
An expression of gratitude is rarely given to those who gather and protest injustice. It’s usually seen as just another news event that doesn’t mean much. But it does mean something vital for life and...
View ArticleLetter | Praise for Sentinel photographer Shmuel Thaler
I’ve had the good luck to meet a few celebrities in my life — Willie Mays, George Bush Sr., Alan Arkin, Nancy Pelosi, Carol Shelby. But recently I met someone I admire tremendously! Shmuel Thaler...
View ArticleLetter | We’re creeping toward nuclear ‘point of no return’
U.S. citizens are inching closer to DEFCON 1, seemingly unaware and unmoved by the looming threat of nuclear annihilation. Between our past of “duck-and-cover” drills and the chilling history of “close...
View ArticleLetter | Biden: End candidacy for good of the country
Joe Biden has been the greatest president since Lyndon Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Clean Air Act, and created Medicare. And now Joe Biden, just like Johnson...
View ArticleLetter | Biden answered questions while Trump lied
I watched the debate Thursday night and yes, Biden had some awkward moments. But he did answer most of the questions put to him, questions on issues a president would have to face in the running of...
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