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For years, Santa Cruz County lacked a youth crisis center, meaning that young people experiencing a mental health crisis were taken to overloaded emergency rooms, the county’s adult psychiatric facility or were shifted to out-of-county facilities, away from their families. That problem will end in...

The Watsonville Elks Car and Truck Show will take place Saturday from 10am to 3pm at 121 Martinelli St. The show will feature music by DJ Marshall Jaurigi and tri-tip sandwiches. Judging will take place at 2pm. All money raised will go to the...

Fiestas Patrias will host its annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in downtown Watsonville Sunday with live music, food, folkloric dance, food booths, information tables and arts and crafts. Held at Watsonville Plaza and surrounding streets, the free event in the plaza and surrounding streets will...

On Jan. 22, as heavy overnight rains drenched the region, Pajaro Regional Flood Control Management Agency (PRFMA)  Manager Mark Strudley got up in the middle of the night to make sure that the rivers and streams could handle the surge of water. They did, and...

The Watsonville Film Festival will partner with CineLux Green Valley Cinemas to present the documentary film “Sanson and Me” Aug. 26 at 6pm. Award-winning filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes will participate in a post-screening Q&A with the audience. Watsonville-based actor Mario Velasquez, who appears in the film,...

While she can’t quite remember what sparked her interest, Arielle Bennet has known she wanted to be a firefighter since she was a small child. Bennet, 18, has been a part of the Watsonville Fire Youth Academy since last year, and now serves as advisor...

CHP will be on full alert for Memorial Day The California Highway Patrol will conduct a Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) starting at 6pm on Friday and continuing through 11:59pm on Monday, which is Memorial Day. During that time, all available CHP officers will be out...

In the minutes before the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously on Tuesday approved an equity statement and a series of steps to achieve it, Elaine Johnson, president of Santa Cruz County’s NAACP branch, described an experience five years ago that she says...

A dozen officers and cadets from Watsonville Police Department teamed up to run in the annual Northern California Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Thursday morning. Led by a pair of WPD motorcycles with lights flashing, the crew laced their way along Main Street...

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...