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The First Aloha Music & Arts Festival, inspired by the spirit of aloha and Hawaii, will take place at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds July 31, and Aug. 1. The free event will feature music, art and crafts, and food that celebrates Hawaiian, Polynesian,...

Caltrans is scheduled to close both directions of Highway 1 for a 24-hour block on March 23/24 to make way for the demolition of the 1948 Capitola Ave. overcrossing.  Kevin Drabinski, spokesperson for Caltrans, said the work is the second phase of the three-phase project...

A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence that the man who raped and killed 8-year-old Madyson (Maddy) Middleton in 2015 would pose a continued danger to the public if he is released. Adrian Jerry (A.J.) Gonzalez, now 24,...

California road trips to the desert, the State Capitol, the San Joaquin Valley, the Bay Area or the Sierra foothills have been turning up a  bounty of rewards for my wife, Sarah, and me.  This was proven on our recent drive from Watsonville to Sacramento...

Editor’s note: this story is a preview for the graduation section that will come out on Friday. We will do our best to highlight all the schools that held ceremonies. Over 90 students crossed the stage in front of a full house at the Henry...

A 29-year-old Watsonville man died Thursday evening when he lost control of his motorcycle and smashed into a fence. California Highway Patrol officer Israel Murillo said officers responded to a report of a crash on Buena Vista Drive west of Bradford Road. The man, identified as...

Water surges through the asphalt along the 300-block of Ford Street Monday afternoon where a man reportedly ran into a fire hydrant with his Chevy Silverado pickup. Watsonville Police said the man struck the hydrant just after 5pm, triggering a water main break beneath...

Thousands of people across Santa Cruz County—and millions more throughout the U.S.—took a pause late Monday morning to look to the skies for a phenomenon that will not happen again for two decades. Californians saw only 30% of the sun being blotted out by the...

Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board (PVHCD) Chair and former Watsonville Community Hospital CEO John Friel, who took the lead of the fledgling agency at its outset in 2022, died March 21 after battling an undisclosed illness.  Friel resigned from his position on March 19,...

For Michelle Martinez Kamalani and her mother, Judy Martinez of Watsonville, Memorial Day meant setting time aside to visit Valley Catholic Cemetery.  With an electric weed-whacker, a whisk broom,  hand clippers and two bunches of fresh flowers, the pair wandered through the rows of flower-festooned...