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The dinner, held at Seascape Golf Club, was a benefit for LEO’s Haven, the first all-inclusive playground being built in Chanticleer Park by the Santa Cruz Playground Project.

Add another pair of accomplishments to Hannah Hocom’s impressive 2017-18 season. The Aptos High star junior basketball player was named an Academic All-American by the National High School Coaches Association late last month, and also earned a spot on Cal-Hi Sports’ All-State Underclassmen Third Team. A starting guard for the Mariners each of the last three seasons, Hocom was named the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s Most Valuable Player after leading Aptos to its first league title since the 2000-01 season. This newspaper also selected the 5-foot-9 sharpshooter as our Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

In a roomful of elected officials and non-profit agencies from all corners of Santa Cruz County, Second Harvest Food Bank revealed San Juan Bautista-based True Leaf Farms as its choice for 2019 Food Industry Donor of the Year. The ceremony served as the lunch event...

A lawsuit has been set in motion regarding the construction of a new Santa Cruz Nissan dealership proposed to be built near the intersection of Soquel Drive at 41st Avenue. Initially slated to open in spring 2019, the 2.6-acre parcel would be a relocation for the existing Nissan dealership which is nearby. Plans were approved by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in May. Though the ball is rolling in motion, the group Sustainable Soquel is saying “not so fast.”

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday laid the groundwork for a ban on single-use disposable cups by unanimously approving a 25-cent charge for the product at all food-service businesses. The charge will go into effect on July 1, 2020 if given...

Community Bridges, which provides dozens of services for children, adults and seniors throughout Santa Cruz County, is moving to Watsonville. The 41-year-old organization runs family resource centers, nutrition programs and programs for seniors such as Elderday and Meals on Wheels. But it does so from its Aptos headquarters. Meanwhile, La Manzana Community Resources is centered in Watsonville, offering parenting education, health insurance enrollment assistance and literacy programs. Also at that location is the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC), which offers services for pregnant and nursing women and infants.

CAPITOLA — St. John’s Helpful Shop in Capitola Village is preparing to move out and find a new home after 65 years. A literal cornerstone of the village, St. John’s Helpful Shop first opened at its location on the corner of Monterey and Capitola avenues in 1953. Women from the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist, then located in the Depot Hill area of Capitola, opened the store to raise money for a new church carpet. Gradually, the church grew, and the shop became a way for St. John’s to expand its community outreach. Church and community members alike volunteer their time at the shop, with all proceeds given as grants to local nonprofits. The building that houses the Helpful Shop recently changed hands, said shop volunteer Daniel Oliver. This has prompted them to move out and possibly find a new location. “We’re currently making a decision of where and when we can reopen,” Oliver said. “We’d like to get the word out and ask help from the community.” In 2018, St. John’s Helpful Shop helped support 26 different organizations across the region — including Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, Homeless Services Center, Native Animal Rescue, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County and more. “That’s really the whole point,” Oliver said. “The outreach. We’d really like to keep that going.” Aug. 25 was the Helpful Shop’s final day open at its Capitola Village location. The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist is now located at 125 Canterbury Drive in Aptos, and Helpful Shop volunteers say they hope to find a location not too far from the church itself — but are open to other ideas. To contact St. John’s Helpful Shop, visit st-john-aptos.org.

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved plans for a new athletic field at E.A. Hall Middle School, a $1.9 million project approved by the community in August. The project will be the last of the school’s funds from Measure...

Max Raasch finished his time at Cabrillo in December, and during the college’s commencement ceremony on May 25 received two associate’s degrees, one in economics and one in liberal arts. He now plans to major in legal studies and politics, and minor in Russian, at UC Santa Cruz in the fall.

A selection of wines from the newly opened Soquel tasting room, Vinocruz, was part of the third annual Soquel Village Sip & Stroll on Saturday. The event included a number of area wineries who set up stations throughout Soquel Village.