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Santa Cruz County residents will consider a half-cent sales tax on the March 5 ballot which, if approved by a simple majority, will fund wildfire protection programs, as well as public safety, road and park improvements and other services. The Santa Cruz County Board of...

After five months of negotiations, nurses at Watsonville Community Hospital have ratified a three-year contract that they say helps to improve patient safety and increase nurse retention. The California Nurses Association, which represents 250 nurses at the hospital, made the announcement on Dec. 9. It...

A multitude of elected officials, workers and law enforcement officials from Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties gathered at the Government Center in Salinas Wednesday to send a message to the immigrant community and the federal government. “Today we stand together, locally, statewide and...

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District has received a $2 million grant that will be used to redevelop the Watsonville Transit Center into an affordable, transit-oriented housing development. The funding will cover the architecture and engineering phase of the project, a process that will begin...

The annual Mi Casa es Tu Casa exhibit opened Thursday at Pajaro Valley Arts on Sudden Street.  The show explores the connection between the living and those who have passed. Typically, altars (ofrendas) are built in homes and public spaces to honor and remember the...

Cold autumn rain did not dissuade a group of roughly two-dozen veterans who gathered Monday morning at Natural Bridges State Park for a 10-mile walk to Britannia Arms restaurant in Capitola. The annual Journey for Change Veterans Day walk, launched about two decades ago, is...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously appointed Justin Cummmings as this year’s board chair, and Felipe Hernandez as vice chair. While the chair role is largely ceremonial, the supervisor in that position leads the meetings and often serves as the spokesperson for the...

For decades, voters on election day went to their respective polling places—roughly 160 in Santa Cruz County—where they would be handed a ballot for the candidates and races specific to their districts. It was a time-honored tradition, and—for one day—a community gathering spot, with many...

The Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board of Directors on Dec. 21 approved a three-year contract with its nurses, two weeks after the nurses’ union ratified it. The approval came after six months of bargaining. Nurses say the contract helps improve patient safety by increasing...

Thousands of people lined up in elections offices, at drop boxes offices and polling stations throughout Santa Cruz County to cast their ballots in the 2024 Presidential Election. Stay tuned to The Pajaronian for updated vote results starting around 8pm.