HONORING YOUNG LEADERS
Nearly three decades ago, the Queer Youth Leadership Awards (QYLA) was created to honor young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ+) whose advocacy and activism have made notable impacts on their communities.
Created by the Queer Youth Task Force, the annual ceremony is...
County to mull ban on filtered cigarettes
In the decade between 2013-23, volunteers and nonprofits picked up 439,358 cigarette butts from Santa Cruz County’s beaches and natural areas, accounting for a quarter of all litter found here.
That’s according to Save Our Shores (SOS), a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that works to support...
Moving upward with Adult school
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...
Salvation Army shutters its shelter
On Saturday morning, 48-year-old Gerardo Gutierrez was one of about a dozen men sitting in the day room at Salvation Army’s Watsonville location, quietly watching an old Vicente Fernández film playing silently on a television mounted to the ceiling.
The men—most of them homeless—had stayed...
Photo story: Watsonville chase ends at levee
Watsonville Police search for two men who jumped out of this Honda sedan late Friday on the Pajaro River levee. The incident began at 9:15pm on Locust Street when police tried to pull over the car with two men aboard. The driver failed to...
Group to call on Driscoll’s to cease pesticides near schools
A local group is calling on the nation’s largest berry grower to cease the use of pesticides on farm fields located near schools.
The Campaign for Organic & Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) will hold a press conference and community gathering on May 21 to ask Driscoll’s...
Man arrested for attempted murder
An 18-year-old Watsonville man was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of attempted murder.
Watsonville Police spokeswoman MIchelle Pulido said detectives served multiple search warrants linked to this case and arrested the suspect, Antwan Magaña.
On Feb. 10, WPD Officers responded to reports of a shooting on...
Community shows its pride
Elaine Johnson was 15 before she realized that the “aunt” who lived with her grandmother was actually her grandmother’s partner of four decades.
In those days, LGBTQ largely had to live in the shadows, lest they draw scorn from a society not yet evolved enough...
H.R. 1 Threatens Central Coast’s Most Vulnerable
The Monterey Bay region has long stood as a place of resilience, hard work, and community care. From the agricultural fields to the neighborhoods...
