Local News

Several dozen protesters descended on the Santa Cruz County Government Center on Wednesday to speak out against a decision by the Board of Supervisors a week earlier not to move forward on a key portion of the Coastal Rail Trail project. While the supervisors on...

A special joint council meeting Saturday brought together Watsonville City Council, City Manager Rene Mendez, other city and county leaders and the public for a discussion of the swelling homeless problem.   In 2023, compared to 2022, homelessness overall rose by 15% in Watsonville while there...

On March 28, local artist Judy Stabile was among seven people who were honored for community service during the annual Cesar Chavez Awards ceremony. Stabile, who volunteers with Pajaro Valley Arts, said she was honored to receive the award. “The awardees were nominated for community service,”...

The Monterey Bay Cactus and  Succulent Society will hold its annual Spring Show and Sale April 12-14 in Watsonville. Attendees can learn from seasoned plant experts and view hundreds of cacti and succulents, as well as pottery and supplies at the three-day event. Also on board...

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...

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...

Law enforcement officials from two counties are looking for a trio of suspected thieves who allegedly stole $30,000 worth of sunglasses from a Monterey store on Thursday, and later led police on a chase that ended in a crash on Highway 1 that snarled...

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will revisit a decision from last September not to renew a contract with an organization that helps teachers deliver ethnic studies curriculum, which now used in the district’s three comprehensive high schools. That discussion will occur...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a new ordinance that prohibits E-bikes from most places where pedestrians walk, with some exceptions. In approving Santa Cruz County Code 9.54, the supervisors expanded the previous rule governing motorized bikes and expanded it...

A large portion of the Coastal Rail Trail project is at risk after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday failed to approve staff recommendations to move forward with the work. While the supervisors did approve the environmental impact report after an hours-long...