Free Republic

In 2019 my life was changed by an act of terrorism perpetrated by Brenton Tarrant in Christchurch, New Zealand, which claimed the lives of 51 civilians, including my close friend Atta Elayyan. Tarrant drew inspiration from Anders Breivik, who carried out a terrorist attack in Oslo eight years prior. Breivik, a self-styled Christian crusader, justified his heinous deeds by citing an “existential conflict” between the West and Islam.

A group of students discovered something that's never been found in Santa Cruz County before. A fossil of the Jefferson's Ground Sloth, an animal that paleontologists had no idea was in this area of the state until a few curious kids unearthed it. “They were building a dam, looking for crawdads,” said Bryn Evans, a teacher who was with the students when they found the fossil. “They're just in the mud pulling things out and then one of them comes up and is like, 'This isn't a stick, this is a bone!'” What the Tara Redwood School students discovered was...

Longtime Santa Cruz resident and educator Andrew Goldenkranz says Martin Luther King Jr. would not be happy with Santa Cruz this weekend, which marks his birthday. Tuesday’s 10-hour Santa Cruz City Council meeting and unruly public forum about an Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution showed an ugly side of the city, he says. The war is heartbreaking all around, he writes, but seeing community members treat each other with such contempt was also disappointing and hurtful

Santa Cruz police say they are “pretty confident” they have identified the vandal who threw blue paint across the downtown Black Lives Matter mural in July, and hope to make an arrest within a few weeks.

The large whale skeleton at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, known as "Ms. Blue", is being removed from its foundation. Officials say the skeleton has been attached to a deteriorating structure after years of exposure to the elements. The center’s director says the whale will be lowered from its perch in the coming weeks and will remain on display until they can determine what comes next. At 87 feet long, it was one of the world's longest whale skeletons on display. A public celebration is scheduled for this Sunday morning at 10 a.m.

The infamous Otter 841, who gained international fame by harassing surfers and climbing on surfboards in the surf lineups in Santa Cruz, appears to have given birth. A photo of the possible mother and child was taken Tuesday by Mark Woodward, a local photographer whose been keeping tabs on Otter 841 since her rise to fame began. You can see the pup in the photo riding on top of 841's chest. Wildlife experts have yet to confirm the birth. Otter experts say the best way to help sea otters is to avoid getting too close to them and don't distract...

A web-like substance was seen falling from the skies across the Central Coast Wednesday morning. The sticky and fluffy substance has been seen falling in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. It is reminiscent of spider silk, but that has not been confirmed to be the source. Wednesday's winds were coming from the east across the mountains. So far, the substance was reported in Hollister, Santa Cruz, Salinas and Monterey. If you have seen the substance falling, you can send photos and videos to KSBW by uploading them here: ksbw.com/upload.

It's been two weeks since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the latest COVID-19 vaccine, and many people still can't get an appointment. This is the first time the federal government is not taking the lead on the vaccine rollout, instead relying on the commercial market and private health care system to reach most Americans. In Santa Cruz, the only providers KSBW could confirm that are actively giving the vaccine are CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. However, multiple customer services representatives tell KSBW the vaccine has been in short supply, and there's a backlog of appointments. The soonest and closest...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Police in Santa Cruz are investigating after the Black Lives Matter mural was vandalized sometime Saturday. The city of Santa Cruz said they first received a report of the damage around 6 p.m. City officials said Black Lives Matter's A and C letters had been covered with blue paint. “This is deeply disappointing and completely contradictory to the values the City holds dear,” said City Manager Matt Huffaker.

Otter 841 has quickly become a phenomenon ever since the viral video back in mid-June. Folks from around the world have made their way to West Cliff Drive to try and get a peak at Santa Cruz’s most wanted sea otter. "I'm up here visiting friends, but I have also heard about 841 and I thought I'd come up and see her in the wild,” said Peter Cresco, visiting from Los Angeles. The craze is turning into dollar signs for some choosing to capitalize on the otter’s popularity. Anything from shirts, jackets, and mugs can be found online with a...

An adult mastodon tooth that was spotted at Rio Del Mar Beach near Aptos Creek is now in the hands of paleontologists in Santa Cruz. The foot-long tooth was found by Jennifer Schuh while walking the beach on Friday. Not knowing what it was, she snapped a few photos, posted them on social media and left it on the sand. That caught the attention of paleontologist Wayne Thompson at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. "He called me and told me what it was and I rushed back, but it was gone. I was crushed," Schuh said. "I knew...

For more than 54 years, a Bay Area woman has wondered what happened to her husband, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot missing in action during the Vietnam War. Now at age 90, Joyce De Soto of Burlingame finally has answers. They were high school sweethearts at Balboa High School in San Francisco before tying the knot. "He had the most beautiful smile, and he was really sweet and really smart," De Soto said of her late husband Ernie De Soto. The De Sotos had three children and were married for 12 years before the family received devastating news: Ernie...

An otter with dreams of being a surf champion shocked Santa Cruz beach-goers when it swam right up to a group of surfers, picked out a board and went for a ride. The incredibly anthropomorphic encounter happened on Sunday at Cowell Beach near the boardwalk. Mark Woodward, who goes by Native Santa Cruz on Twitter, posted photos and video of the moment. Woodward wrote that the otter sniffed around a number of boards before settling on its favorite, a blue one. Advertisement “He was going from board to board and seemed calm and friendly even as he was a few...

Paleontologists are busy this Memorial Day weekend trying to find a tooth in Santa Cruz County that dates back to the Ice Ages. An unknown beach-goer picked up a giant mastodon tooth that first surfaced on an Aptos beach Friday. Now scientists are hoping that the scientifically significant tooth will be returned to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History where it can be studied and displayed for the public as a piece of ancient history. US Census breakdown: The largest racial group in each Bay Area county The 1-foot-long tooth was originally spotted by a beach-goer strolling through the...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The University of California, Santa Cruz has received two separate reports of incidents of antisemitism and hate. In a statement, they say one happened on campus and the other to a student in downtown Santa Cruz.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- From a flying couch to crushed cars, a collection of videos and images show just how powerful Tuesday's storm was across the San Francisco Bay Area. The winds were so strong in San Francisco, city officials say they toppled at least 900 trees and branches -- resulting in two deaths. VIDEO AT LINK.................. Video from a high-rise in the city showed a couch flying through the air as it narrowly missed a person on the ground below. While images out of Santa Cruz showed high surf battering the already damaged coastline from January's storms. Watch the...

A disturbing fentanyl case out of Santa Cruz is putting a spotlight on the fentanyl crisis on the Central Coast. The case involves the overdose of a 12-year-old girl who police say actively went out and bought it. “A 12-year-old getting in possession of fentanyl is definitely a rare occurrence for us,” said Jon Bush, deputy chief with Santa Cruz police. Police say the young girl bought fentanyl from a downtown street dealer and then went to Depot Park where she smoked it and overdosed. The girl regained consciousness after being administered Narcan. “It definitely could have had a different...

Santa Cruz police are warning residents not to approach a man dressed up as the "Cookie Monster," that is wandering around the city's beach and wharf areas. Police said they have received multiple calls and emails from residents who say the man is "creepy" and makes them "uncomfortable." Police identified the man as Adam Sandler; not related to the actor. Sandler is not employed, contracted, or permitted by the City of Santa Cruz or any local businesses on the wharf, authorities said. Police said it's the prerogative of the parent if they want their children to take pictures with him,...

The season opens more than a month later than usual with new gear restrictionsNew Year’s Eve marked more than just the start of 2023 for fishermen on the central coast. It was also the start of the commercial Dungeness crab season. The fishery traditionally opened around November 15, but the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has delayed the season in recent years in an effort to reduce the number of whale entanglements. CDFW followed the delay this year with a 50% gear reduction, meaning fishermen must keep half their allotted traps on board. Vertical fishing lines connect crab...

Heavy rain, powerful winds and over 30-foot waves battered Capitola overnight and into Thursday afternoon, wreaking havoc to coastal businesses. "We have sustained some significant damage on the Capitola Wharf, so we're declaring a state of emergency," Mayor Margaux Keiser said Wednesday afternoon. About 350 people were given evacuation orders in Capitola Village—the city's main tourist destination filled with shops and restaurants—and a neighborhood along the Soquel Creek, where the water level shot up above ten feet, beyond what city officials predicted. "Where we would have expected it with this high tide is probably around six feet, yet we were...