💘Valentine Vibes, Afrobeats Nights & One Very Weird Invite 🎭
Santa Cruz Today • Mon, Feb 9 (Originally published in Good Times)
Hey There Santa Cruz! 👋🌊
Whether you watched the Super Bowl 🏈for the game, the ads or the performances – or skipped it altogether – Bad Bunny’s history-making, all-Spanish halftime set (with appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin) was the cultural moment that rippled far beyond Sunday night.🎶✨
Now we slide into a week that celebrates connection in every form: Valentine’s, Galentine’s and Palentine’s 💘👯♀️🤍…aka date nights, friend hangs, group dinners, solo treats and doing whatever version of love works for you. If that means a stroll along West Cliff 🌅 on Feb. 14, be sure to check out the Valentine’s Outdoor Market 🛍️from 10am to 6pm.
For a night out, hit Bookshop Santa Cruz then head to Moe’s Alley, where Afrobeats Nite 💃🏾🔥brings the dancefloor energy on Valentine’s Day and Long Beach Dub Allstars keep the weekend going on Sunday. 🎸🌴Easy plans, good music, no pressure. Looking for more ideas? Good Times has you covered. 😉
And as February keeps rolling, Black History Month continues,✊🏾📖 with local events, music, conversations and community gatherings – in jazz-rooted spaces like Kuumbwa to museum and arts programming around the county honoring Black culture – creativity and history are right here at home.
Beyond the fun stuff, it’s also a week for civic action.🏛️ If you’ve ever thought about stepping up, now’s your moment: more than a dozen seats in local government are up for grabs and the candidate filing window opens today.
With that, here’s what’s on the radar across Santa Cruz County this week. Thanks for reading! 👀✨
News Highlights
A rogue boat plows through Steamer Lane near surfers, then capsizes in heavy surf with two adults and four young children onboard. (Photo Credit: Vince Tuzzi)
Boat Barely Misses Surfers, Capsizes with Family of Six Onboard
Search Suspended for Missing Surfers
Santa Cruz ICE Updates: Two Visits, One Arrest
Live Oak Apartment Proposal Poised for Legal Battle
Bomb Threat at Local Hospital
Supervisor Martinez Chosen as 2026 Board Chair
Santa Cruz County Fair Announces 2026 Theme
PVUSD Slashes Assistant Principals
Overnight Traffic Control in Felton Continues
Plus…Brite Ideas, Healthy Guts, Pho-nomenal Food and unScruz Absurdia!
TOP STORIES
Boat Barely Misses Surfers, Capsizes with Family of Six Onboard
A rogue boat plowed through Steamer Lane, barely missing surfers, then capsized in heavy surf with a family of six on board, including four young children. According to reports, all six were rescued with the help of nearby surfers and transferred into rescue boats and then to ambulances.
Search Suspended for Missing Surfers
After more than 10 hours, the Coast Guard suspended its search for two missing surfers Saturday morning. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
Santa Cruz County ICE Updates: Two Visits, One Arrest
Two groups of agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement visited Watsonville and Freedom on Jan. 18, according to notices reported to Watsonville Police and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. At least one arrest was made.
Meanwhile, a Watsonville teacher is placed on leave posting a pro-ICE comment on social media.
Live Oak Apartment Proposal Poised for Legal Battle
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is slated to review a proposed five-story apartment building in Live Oak. It was approved by the planning commission and angry neighbors appealed the decision. Both the developer and opponents have suggested they will pursue legal action should the supervisors’ vote go against them.
Watsonville Police arrested a 32-year-old man after he reportedly made a bomb threat targeting a local hospital.
Supervisor Martinez Chosen as 2026 Board Chair
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has selected District 5 Supervisor Monica Martinez to serve as board chair for 2026. Martinez – the first openly LGBTQ+ and Latina person to serve as chair – was chosen by her colleagues following a first year focused on protecting essential services, supporting vulnerable populations, strengthening wildfire preparedness and deepening community engagement.
Santa Cruz County Fair Announces 2026 Theme
The Santa Cruz County Fair announced that its theme for this year’s fair is "Apple Pies and Starry Skies," submitted by Randy Fong at the theme contest. "Fairs can be so fun," Fong said. "I thought that coming up with the official tagline for the Fair would be pretty cool."
PVUSD to Slash Assistant Principals
When the 2026-27 school year begins in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, all 17 elementary schools will be without assistant principals.The positions, also referred to as academic coordinators, play an essential role at elementary schools, often handling behavioral issues and other student-centered concerns, allowing principals to focus on administrative duties.
Overnight One-Way Traffic Control in Felton Continues
Travelers on Highway 9 in Felton will encounter one-way flagging control between Kirby Street and north of Fall Creek Drive every night through Thurs. Feb. 12. Work should conclude Friday morning.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Eventbrite founder Julia Hartz, who was a local barista, changed the way we buy and sell tickets.
Wellness columnist and author Elizabeth Borelli shares helpful tips about one of the most important nutrition discoveries of the past 20 years: the living ecosystem of microbes in our digestive system.
Food Lab + The Landing Debut at Revamped Power Plant (with Wine Bar!?)
The Power Plant in Moss Landing just got a major surge of flavor, by way of both food and drink.
Suddenly a small constellation of stars, led by chef Todd Williamson and sommelier Ryan Cooley, have transformed the retail side of the airy combo space into a food-truck-revved restaurant called The Food Lab and craft beer-wine bar called The Landing.
A go-to spot in Watsonville with a strong local following, Pho Kitchen has been serving traditional Vietnamese cuisine alongside a renowned beverage menu for the last four years.
😳 Wait, What?! 😳🎭
Santa Cruz Burners just announced unSCruz 2026: Absurdia – a regional Burning Man-style event billed as a celebration of the “absurd, the nonsensical, and the delightfully unpredictable,” where creativity, costumes and “joyful confusion” are the whole point. So if your 2026 resolution was “be a little weirder,” you’ve found your enabler.