Tamsin McMahon

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Chief Business Officer Gerardo Castillo announced his resignation this week after less than a year on the job. His departure comes as the district grapples with continued strains on its budget.

Santa Cruz County is losing its young families with children — and local activist Kevin Norton says our fractured, agency-by-agency approach to housing is why. Here, he offers up a new, collaborative approach to housing that he thinks will help families, teachers, first responders and others stay in our community. He believes we need to follow Orange County and the San Gabriel Valley and create a “joint powers housing trust” that allows cities, agencies and the county to work together – and reduces the bureaucracy of applying for low-income housing. We coordinate for book lending and emergency services, he argues. Why not housing?

Under the leadership of new executive director Dennis Bartok, Santa Cruz’s long-standing arts nonprofit The 418 Project is undergoing a "rebirth" by expanding its traditional dance focus into adventurous, self-produced programming.

Angelica Glass set out to walk every street in Santa Cruz County for exercise and stress reduction. Nearly 2,900 miles later, she’d discovered hidden beauty, unexpected wildlife, dislodged childhood memories — and a whole new way of seeing the place she'd called home for decades. Her book, “Scavenging Beauty: A Memoir in Walks,” will be available on Tuesday, and she will be talking about it at 7 p.m. that day at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

After 44 years serving Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey Bay is shutting down its mentoring program, leaving many mentors and mentees shocked and searching for answers. For longtime pairs like Santa Cruz’s Amé Yeager and Brenda Canizal, the closure marks the end of a local program but not the deep bonds it helped create.

California’s fishing fleet is graying and shrinking. An apprenticeship aimed at reviving it showed the obstacles to sustaining locally caught fish.

The Santa Cruz County housing market looks similar to what it did last month, as inventory and sales remain high during the summer months. However, the war in Iran has heated up yet again, bringing more uncertainty into the economy and, by association, mortgage rates.

Who builds affordable housing in Santa Cruz County — and who decides which projects and policies deserve public support? After examining tax filings, annual reports and public records, local activist Kevin Norton says he uncovered organizational relationships that many residents may not know exist. He argues the findings raise important questions about transparency, governance and public trust in a housing system under enormous pressure.

Common Roots Farm's art program began around two years ago, spearheaded by Heidi Cartan, one of the farm’s founders, and Ilana Ingber, the art teacher. It was created to provide a space for New Perspectives' clients, which are made up of adults over 22 who have aged out of special education services, to participate in organized activities outside in nature.

Cabrillo College has corrected seven of eight violations identified in a state investigation of its dental hygiene program, but it remains on three years of probation and must pay a $5,000 fine after investigators found issues including inadequate clinic supervision and students falling behind on required clinical hours.