SF News Santa Cruz Boy, Now a 25-Year-Old Man, Who Killed 8-Year-Old Neighbor Maddy Middleton, Begins Trial to Determine His Fate Adrian Gonzalez, who has been jailed for nine years now for the brutal sexual assault and murder of a girl who lived in the same Santa Cruz apartment complex as him, heads to trial this week to determine if he should remain incarcerated.
SF News Former Mr. Bungle Musician Theobald Lengyel Gets 25 Years to Life for Girlfriend's Murder Theobald "Mylo" Lengyel was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in Santa Cruz Superior Court for the December 2023 murder of Alice “Alyx” Herrmann at her home in Capitola.
SF News Bombshell Testimony Comes Three Weeks Into Murder Trial of Former Mr. Bungle Band Member Theobald "Mylo" Lengyel has been on trial since September 4 for the December 2023 murder of his girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, in Capitola. And this week, a witness took the stand who only reached out to prosecutors after reading about testimony in the trial so far.
SF News Convicted Teen Killer of Maddy Middleton Denied Freedom By Judge, Will Stand Trial to Determine His Fate Adrian "A.J." Gonzalez, who was 15 when he confessed to the sexual assault and killing of his 8-year-old neighbor Madyson "Maddy" Middleton in 2015 in a Santa Cruz apartment complex where they both lived with their parents, never stood trial for the murder. But that is about to change.
SF News Former Mr. Bungle Musician to Stand Trial For Girlfriend's Murder as More Details of the Crime Emerge In Court A preliminary hearing has concluded, and a Santa Cruz County judge has concluded that there is enough evidence to put 54-year-old Theodore Lengyel of El Cerrito on trial for the murder of a Capitola woman he was in a relationship with.
SF News Very Large Rabbit (or Hare) Rescued From Local Highway An alarmingly large wild hare (or rabbit?) was rescued by CHP officers Sunday night on Highway 17, likely from a terrible fate on that busy roadway.
SF News Pro-Palestine Protesters Block Entrances to UC Santa Cruz, Classes Moved Online Both entrances to UC Santa Cruz were blocked Tuesday, and classes moved online, as that school becomes the latest UC campus flummoxed by the disruptions of pro-Palestine protesters.
SF News Day Around the Bay: Surfboard-Stealing Otter Resurfaces in Santa Cruz Some lane closures and street repairs will muck up traffic on part of 19th Avenue this week; an extremely rare whale was spotted near Point Reyes; and Santa Cruz’s infamous Otter 841 has reappeared and is taking over people’s surfboards again.
Arts & Entertainment Santa Cruz Boardwalk Roller Coaster Giant Dipper Turns 100 Years Old This Weekend The oldest roller coaster in California celebrates its 100th birthday Saturday, as the Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk turns 100 with a rollicking party, and someone even brewed it a commemorative beer.
SF News First Mountain Lion Spotted Going Through Santa Cruz Highway Wildlife Crossing: VIDEO Ten months after the Laurel Curve wildlife tunnel under Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz Mountains was completed, a mountain lion used the crossing for the first time.
SF News Decapitated Baby Seals on NorCal Beaches Confound Biologists, But Now They Know the Culprits Baby seals have been turning up with their heads ripped off on beaches from Santa Cruz to Mendocino County. Now researchers know who’s behind this curious phenomenon, and it’s predators with a newfound taste for seafood.
SF News Humpday Headlines: Berkeley City Council Retracts Gaza Ceasefire Resolution Six people were hospitalized in a campus bus crash at UC Santa Cruz Tuesday night; the Berkeley City Council retracted a resolution it was set to vote on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza; and Tesla is conducting another major recall.
SF News Day Around the Bay: Aggressive Santa Cruz Sea Otter Gives Birth to Pup A shooting at a San Leandro barbershop left one man dead; downtown SF businesses are expressing concerns about the APEC security zone that's being set up; and that aggressive sea otter in Santa Cruz might have been acting oddly toward surfers because she was pregnant, and she now has a pup.
SF News Super-Aggressive Santa Cruz Sea Otter Is Pirating People’s Surfboards, Menacing Kayakers “Otter 841” has quickly become a social media phenomenon for her brazen attacks on Santa Cruz surfers and kayakers, and moreover, both federal and state authorities are coming up empty in their attempts to capture her.
SF News Victim In 1998 Santa Cruz Murder Case Finally Identified Though Forensic Technology The John Doe in a 24-year-old Santa Cruz murder case is no longer a John Doe, as he has been identified as Eric Cupo, though the suspects pleaded guilty back in 2000 and have been locked up since.
SF News Floods Force Road Closures Across Bay Area; Ducks Were Swimming On I-580 In Oakland The latest round of storms have left flooded roads that have stranded hundreds in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with flood advisories in effect for several Bay Area counties, and a flooded I-580 in Oakland was taken over by a paddling of ducks.
SF News Notorious 'Evil Elmo' Guy Appears to Be Back at It Harassing People On the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Now As Cookie Monster Hide your kids if you see Cookie Monster coming at you near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — he is not the cute and kindly Sesame Street character he appears to be.
SF News Video: President Biden Tours Storm-Ravaged Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties, Announces More Relief Funds President Joe Biden touched down in Santa Clara County just before noon, toured the wreckage in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, and Capitola, and announced more relief funds in a speech that’s already posted online.
SF News Huge Landslides Shut Down Roads In Santa Cruz County, Including Southbound Highway 17 Impacts from the ongoing parade of storms continue to be most severe just south of the Bay Area in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and on Monday, the main route into Santa Cruz from the north, Highway 17, was completely blocked by a landslide.
SF News Coastal Piers Getting Destroyed By 35-Foot Waves In Santa Cruz, Capitola The atmospheric river is rough on ocean areas, as the Capitola Wharf has been crashed in half by waves as large as 35 feet as this storm pummels coastal areas of Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.
SF News Convicted Boogaloo Shooter Steven Carrillo Receiving Medication for Mental Illness, and Other Details Emerge He's already been convicted and sentenced in the federal case and is awaiting sentencing in the killing of a Santa Cruz County deputy, but we're getting a bit more of the timeline filled in of Carrillo's violent 2020 spree, inspired by the Boogaloo movement.
SF News Former Air Force Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Murdering Santa Cruz Deputy Weeks after taking a guilty plea in the killing of a federal security officer, former Air Force Sergeant Steven Carrillo has pleaded guilty in a state murder case involving the murder of a Santa Cruz sheriff's deputy and the attempted murder of four other officers.
SF News Photo Goes Viral of Santa Cruz Raccoon That Got Stuck Face-First In a Roof Hole A mother raccoon who was reportedly trying to rescue her kits from the other side of a hole in a Santa Cruz home's roof got herself comically stuck, ass up, and a local animal shelter publicized the photo.
SF News Employees at Two Santa Cruz Starbucks Locations Have Voted To Unionize The first California Starbucks shops to unionize are both in Santa Cruz, after two separate Starbucks locations’ employees voted overwhelmingly to unionize on Wednesday.
SF News Colorado Fire Grows to 700 Acres, Containment at 35% and One Structure Damaged After starting Friday night, the Colorado Fire in Monterey County swelled Saturday from around 150 acres to 700 acres in size, damaging at least one structure; all previously placed evacuation orders are still in effect.
