Featured

Since a series of storms ravaged Santa Cruz County earlier this year, county officials have been preparing for another potential winter of heavy rains. This includes clearing debris from creeks and rivers and repairing three damaged portions of the Pajaro River Levee system. All of this...

Tarmo Hannula and Todd Guild contributed to this story Jerry Castro has lived in the same house on Cayetano Street in Pajaro all his life. His parents owned it before him, he then bought it off of them. His children and their children were also...

Heavy smoke pours out of a mushroom farm in Las Lomas Tuesday at 4:15pm where indoor equipment caught fire. Jess Mendoza, Battalion Chief with North Monterey County, said firefighters got a quick handle on the blaze at 415 Hall Road. No injuries were reported...

Watsonville has gotten its newest retail cannabis dispensary. Catalyst Cannabis, which has 17 other locations statewide, is the city’s third pot shop. The store opened on June 2, and plans a grand opening for the end of July. General Manager Jon Kolodinski has roots in Santa Cruz...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District announced the closure of several schools on Thursday due to impacts from the ongoing storm systems. This includes Hall District, Calabasas, Ann Soldo, Ohlone and Radcliff elementary schools, Lakeview and Pajaro middle schools and Watsonville and Renaissance high schools. All other...

President Joe Biden on Oct. 30 issued an Executive Order—a new framework of safety, security and privacy standards governing artificial intelligence (AI) designed to manage the fledgling technology. The executive order came after Santa Cruz County in September became one of the first jurisdictions in...

More than three dozen students from every high school within Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s boundaries gathered in the district’s boardroom Tuesday for a first-of-its kind meeting with Superintendent Heather Contreras. The Superintendent Student Advisory Meeting, which Contreras said will occur at least six times...

Longtime Watsonville resident Virginia Varni recently celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends.  She was born on Jan. 11, 1923 in Breckenridge, Texas to Charles and Grace Leonard. The family moved to Southern California and Varni gave the first-ever radio broadcast from first...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As Thanksgiving edges closer, the folks at Corralitos Market & Sausage Co. and Freedom Meat Lockers say now is the time to get orders dialed in. “I’ve been at this since April, getting ready and dealing with supply, price changes and everything else,”...

WATSONVILLE—A disaster recovery center opened in downtown Watsonville on Friday to direct Pajaro flood victims to federal relief programs. The center, operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is open daily (except April 9) from 9am to 7pm at Old City Hall, 250 Main St....