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The Capitola Wharf will celebrate its grand reopening on Wednesday after being rebuilt following its destruction in a winter storm last year. "It looked very much like this, and so we're very sensitive to wanting to make sure we kept that look," said Gerry Jensen a fundraiser coordinator. The new gate at the wharf is wider, with shorter columns and glistening mosaic artwork, made possible by an excess in community donations. The fundraiser aimed to enhance the wharf's features. "We were trying to raise $250,000, but we raised $425,000, and that's just because of the messaging from our group to...

Hundreds of sand pyramids are being constructed on Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz as part of an art exhibit by Jim Denevan, his son, Brighton and dozens of volunteers. "It's a reference to the most well-known pyramid in Egypt, just in the sense it has the same angle, same four sides, same steepness, basically," Jim Denevan said. "And so in use, in a sense, when you walk through, you can reference maybe Egypt. But yes, it's a pyramid." "It's creating beauty from nature. And nature's already beautiful, but somebody is making it more beautiful," Cindy Martino added. "They're creating art...

It was 17 years ago that a group of volunteers began to restore the Rancho San Andreas Castro Adobe, a structure whose endurance over its 176-year lifespan helps paint a picture of California history. Now fully restored and equipped with interpretative displays, touchable exhibits and multimedia offerings, the building is open monthly—including this Sunday, Aug. 11. Restoration efforts began in 2007, when volunteers made more than 2,000 adobe bricks by hand and recreated the kitchen, which is one of just four Mexican-era “cocinas” in the state, says Bonny Hawley, executive director of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, a nonprofit...

A missing Santa Cruz County hiker is back home after spending more than a week in the mountains, and the heartfelt reunion was all captured in photos. Lukas McClish, 34, said spent 10 days in the Santa Cruz Mountains. On Tuesday, June 11, McClish headed out for a three-hour hike from his hometown of Boulder Creek. He said he got lost and didn't recognize certain landmarks wiped out by fires. When he didn't show up for Father's Day dinner, he was declared missing on Sunday, June 16. [snip] "I left with just a pair of pants, and my pair of...

While Russia and Santa Cruz aren’t often mentioned in the same breath, when it comes to Wilder Ranch State Park, a shared history features betrayal and a land grab. The sprawling 7,000-acre park just 4 miles west of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk is filled with coastal views, but on a recent morning, I found myself entranced by a local historical tale involving a husband accused of forging documents to remove his wife and her family from the deed. When hiking through this part of the California coastline — where sandy beaches, marine life and a magical sea cave coalesce —...

CAL Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit helped rescue a stranded kite surfer, they announced on social media on Sunday. The kite surfer was rescued off a beach south of Davenport Landing. CAL FIRE says he used rocks on the beach to spell out "HELP." A private helicopter spotted him and they called 911. The kite surfer was safely extracted and did not need medical attention, per CAL FIRE on a social media post.

If surfing sea otters weren't enough at Streamer Lane, now you have bodysurfing deer at Seacliff State Beach. Valencia Elementary School students on a field trip got to see just that on Tuesday. A parent, Mrs. Martinez, then took the video of the deer swimming near the shore. KSBW 8 was told the deer "ran down the mountain, onto the beach, dove into the surf, swam out a ways, then swam parallel with the beach," said Lynnelle Wing, a third-grade teacher for Valencia Elementary School. It then caught a wave, wiped out, came back up and tried catching another wave...

Marauding marine mammal makes cameo at contest, chews surfboardSurfer Karl Anderle knew just whom he was dealing with Saturday in Santa Cruz when he turned around and saw a large adult sea otter sitting on the back of his board: Otter 841, the notorious marine mammal whose surfboard-stealing and wave-riding rampage last summer captured the world’s attention. “I’m going over in my mind what I should do,” said Anderle, 69, who had been sitting up on his board at a surfing contest as a volunteer keeping non-competitors out of the competition zone. “I didn’t really want her to bite me....

Otter 841 is known as the elusive-surfboard stealing otter and she’s back to her old tricks, making her latest appearance in Santa Cruz, California during a surf contest Saturday. According to The Mercury News, Otter 841 is notorious among surfers after last summer’s wave-riding rampage, going after surfers and biting their surf boards. Surfer Karl Anderle says he was sitting on his board at the surfing contest as a volunteer, keeping non-competitors out of the competition zone. He says he tipped his board up, hoping she would hop off, but she scooted up and clung on so he decided he...

A group of students allegedly celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday on the UC Santa Cruz campus, the university announced last week.

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...