🎃 Santa Cruz doesn’t just celebrate Halloween. It trains for it. This Hallo-weekend brings witches on paddleboards, bands in disguise, silent-screen monsters and enough trick-or-treat stops to test a pillowcase’s structural integrity. Plus: final Restaurant Week dinners, Día de los Muertos gatherings, local news worth catching up on and a great white shark with absolutely no respect for photo etiquette. 🦈📸

Only in Santa Cruz does the week’s planning involve Bonnie Raitt, a monster research center and fishing pumpkins out of a swimming pool. We’ve also got free comedy, films worth leaving the sofa for and local news to keep you in the know. Plus, we pause to remember Loma Prieta, 37 years later.

Killer Klowns at the Boardwalk, dogs with a glam squad and a bike ride loud enough to raise the dead. October is off to a promising start, Santa Cruz. We’ve also got Capitola fireworks, a welcome-home party for the monarchs and local news worth knowing before you hit the road or pay the bills. Oh, and even Fat Bear Week has nepo babies.

🍂🎶 Fall arrives with a very full dance card: the Capitola Beach Festival, A Taste of Soquel, Laurie Anderson and seven ways to spend one overbooked Saturday. In the Sept. 21 edition: rare-book curiosities at UCSC, local headlines, heirloom tortillas and a surfboard made with cigarette butts. Plus, meet the golden retriever who greeted a home intruder with toys. Security clearly wasn’t in his job description. 🐕🧸

🎡🍎 Apple pies, carnival rides and a little tequila: Santa Cruz’s September 14 edition packs in County Fair fun, Bonny Doon’s Art, Wine & Brew Festival, outrigger races and 50 years of Santa Cruz Guitar Company. Plus, local news you need, a homegrown pasta brand’s big deal and a rent-free California lighthouse apartment—with mice, fierce winds and a few other catches. 🐭🌊🏠

Dueling pianos, apple picking, a food fest and a moonlight train through the redwoods. I hope you weren’t counting on a quiet Labor Day weekend! Here’s what caught my eye around Santa Cruz County, plus the news to know and a dachshund named Mary Poopins who deserves a round of applause.

School’s back, but summer isn’t done with Santa Cruz. This week: outdoor concerts, Shakespeare under the stars, mushroom bites and a peek inside a working beehive. Plus, local news and an election where every candidate is spineless — and that’s a good thing.

There’s something happening every day this week across Santa Cruz County, from Shakespeare, First Friday and beach concerts to board games, reggae, movies under the stars and a delightfully quirky jug band festival. Plus, catch up on the week’s biggest local news, including Highway 9 roadwork, a potentially historic El Niño, county road funding and an inspiring CZU homecoming.

Summer is in full swing across Santa Cruz County, with Shakespeare under the redwoods, beach concerts, Moonlight Madness, Wharf to Wharf and the Cabrillo Festival. Plus, catch up on the week’s biggest local news, from a lawsuit against Driscoll’s to teacher housing, Cabrillo College and more.

Santa Cruz County is showing off this week, with live music everywhere, movies under the stars, an illuminated redwood forest, World Cup excitement and even a little poetry. We’ve also rounded up the local news you need to know — plus the strangely sweet discovery floating around in space. Come for the glowing redwoods…stay to find out why the universe apparently smells like raspberries and self-tanner.

Summer is just getting warmed up! This week's newsletter features outdoor movies, live theater, luaus, lavender fields, live music, and even a chance to help scientists measure water quality at Loch Lomond. Plus, catch up on the week's biggest local news, discover the remarkable story of America's railroad dogs, and find out why octopuses that use mirrors are making scientists do a double take.

Fourth of July week has arrived, and Santa Cruz County is ready to celebrate! This week's newsletter rounds up hometown parades, live music, holiday festivities, the county's only major fireworks show, and plenty of ways to make the most of the long weekend. Plus, catch up on the week's biggest local news, meet the Texas giraffe that somehow vanished for two weeks, and discover stories on nutrition, beach safety, wellness, local dining and more.

Summer has officially arrived, and Santa Cruz County is wasting no time celebrating. This week's Good Times newsletter is packed with World Cup watch parties, free concerts, Food Truck Fridays, live music, roller derby, local news, and one soccer-loving duck who's become the tournament's most unlikely star. Whether you're planning your weekend or simply catching up on what's happening around town, we've got you covered.

Sharks in the lineup, World Cup fever sweeping the county, summer solstice celebrations, Lucinda Williams, Father's Day fun and even a mysterious "space potato." Dive into the week's biggest Santa Cruz news, events and stories all in one place.

Pride glitter, booming surf, Dusty Baker, Lost Boys nostalgia, Juneteenth celebrations, ocean festivals, classic cars, Wharf concerts and the looming Murray Street Bridge closure — Santa Cruz launches headfirst into summer this week. Plus: top local news, a weirdly hilarious Uber Lost & Found report, surf forecasts, night skies and plenty happening around the county.

The Wharf concert series is back, vintage Volkswagens are rolling into Capitola and Santa Cruz’s spooky crowd is already celebrating Halfway to Halloween. Throw in GZA at The Catalyst, a major new homelessness initiative in Watsonville and one of the nation’s sharpest population drops, and this week’s Santa Cruz headlines are all over the map in the best possible way.

Goth dance parties, reggae legends, whale rescues, Bach cantatas, longboard contests and lumberjack competitions? Somehow Santa Cruz County packed all of that into a single Memorial Day week. Here’s your guide to the beach BBQs, mountain-town parades, local headlines and gloriously weird moments happening around the county right now.