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A new 200-foot mural has gone up across the front of Hotel Paradox on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.  Artist Jeremiah Kille, who has completed scores of large-scale murals around town, Sacramento and elsewhere, finished the work in November. The mural spans the front of the...

Santa Cruz Fire Department investigators believe that a fire that broke out Tuesday inside the former Garfield Park Church was deliberately set, the department announced on Facebook. According to SCFD, firefighters responded to multiple calls of smoke and flames seen at the now-closed church—also known...

Two suspects were detained Tuesday in Watsonville on suspicion of firing off a string of shots from a gun into a car. Watsonville Police said the incident unfolded at the corner of Bridge and Secoya streets in the Vista Montaña housing complex around 2:30pm. Multiple witnesses...

Hundreds of cars slowly filed through the annual Christmas Giveaway put on by Casa de la Cultura in Pajaro on Tuesday. In collaboration with a list of supporting groups, organizers aim to bolster low-income residents, especially farmworkers, during the holidays, with food, clothing, wrapped gifts,...

More than 100 people gathered in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Dec. 15 to watch the swearing-in of its newest judge, Erika Ziegenhorn, who formerly served as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office. Attendees included prosecutors, defense attorneys, Superior Court judges, county workers...

The former owners of Watsonville Community Hospital are facing a lawsuit alleging that they took more than $3.9 million for their own use, and that their mismanagement led the hospital  to bankruptcy and to the brink of financial ruin. Halsen Healthcare was removed from its...

When Vanessa Quiroz-Carter and Maria Orozco were sworn in Tuesday as Watsonville’s mayor and vice mayor, it marked the second time in the city’s history that women held both top spots. The last time was in 2019, when Rebecca Garcia and Trina Coffman-Gomez served in...

Santa Cruz County officials are considering a plan to borrow money to help pay for costs of the CZU fires, the Covid pandemic, the storms and floods from early 2023 and other federal disasters that have beset the county. County staff will return to the...

Hundreds of people packed city and county meeting chambers throughout the day on Tuesday to ask local elected leaders to pass resolutions demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. The action resulted in the Santa Cruz City Council creating a special meeting to discuss...

Melissa Arana, 3, pays visit to Santa Monday at Ramsay Park in Watsonville after Santa and one of his helpers landed in a helicopter. More than 100 people lined up to watch the landing in a soccer field and then stepped up to greet...