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A census of Santa Cruz County’s homeless population taken in February shows a 21.5% decline since the last count in 2021. Still, one in every 146 Santa Cruz County residents still do not have access to housing, according to the 2023 Homeless Count and Survey,...

A woman wanders through the crowd on stilts Saturday at the second annual Salinas Festa Italia, a one-day family street festival that features the food, live music and culture of Italy. “The importance of the festival has been dedicated to the importance of family...

Next year, work crews will kick off a $400 million project to rebuild the levees in South Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties and keep the rivers and creeks from escaping and devastating the surrounding communities. That long-anticipated work will be a relief to the...

Wildfires in the county’s unincorporated regions have stayed relatively low for this time of year, with just 71 vegetation fires so far in 2023 in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, compared to 107 for the same time period last year. That’s according to Nate...

The 2023 Santa Cruz County Fair wrapped up Sept. 17 with greater attendance than years past. From monster trucks and pig races to LEGO models, homemade quilts, original paintings, bonsai trees, antique tractors, live music, poodle shows and giant pumpkins, the fair unfolded under...

Watsonville Police collect evidence Wednesday morning on Riverside Drive where a man crashed a stolen Honda sedan into a building following a pursuit that started in Aromas. According to police radio traffic, San Benito County Sheriff's deputies called for assistance from Watsonville Police as...

Editor's note: This is the final part of reporter Tarmo Hannula's trip to the Sacramento area. Stay tuned to The Pajaronian for his future travel exploits. One the last day of the short road trip my wife, Sarah and I took from Watsonville to Sacramento,...

Veterans march along Main Street in Watsonville Saturday during Veterans Day ceremonies. About 60 vets, on foot or aboard several early day fire engines, left St. Patrick's Church and made their way to the Mello Center where they were greeted by a host of...

A man died at Moran Beach along East Cliff Drive in Live Oak Friday. Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff'’s Office identified the victim as Hans Materne, 45, of Atlanta, Ga.   The Sheriff’s Office said deputies, Harbor Patrol, State Parks, and fire personnel were...

A proposed law that would have retroactively invalidated voter-approved tax measures throughout the state was removed from the November ballot by the California Supreme Court Thursday, a move that came as a relief to jurisdictions that had already budgeted the revenue. The Taxpayer Protection and...