Local News

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a new camping ordinance creating designated “no-encampment zones,” allowing the city to immediately remove encampments from certain public areas without providing the standard 72-hour notice. The vote marked the ordinance’s second reading, making it final. The...

Thousands of people lines the mainstreets of Aptos and Watsonville for their annual Fourth of July parades, some staking out their roadside seats the night before. Below is a collection of images from the events. SPIRIT OF WATSONVILLE All Watsonville photos by Tarmo Hannula APTOS WORLD'S SHORTEST...

Everyone is invited to pedal along in a community bike ride July 5. Grab your bikes and bring the whole family for a fun ride on the Ohlone Loop Trail. The route, described as gently challenging, starts at 150 Westridge Drive in Watsonville. The free...

Nine months of late nights, countless repairs and more than 100 hours spent testing an underwater robot in a swimming pool paid off in a big way for a team of Santa Cruz County high school students. Hephaestus Robotics, a 21-member team representing eight county...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a revised $20.9 million budget for the Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services Department, restoring several services that had been slated for cuts while preserving most county funding for local arts organizations. The spending...

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a $2.857 million state funding agreement that will connect Renaissance High School to the Soquel Creek Water District, replacing the campus’s groundwater system that has been plagued by elevated levels of hexavalent...

The upcoming Santa Cruz County Fair will look different this year, as the sheep and pig livestock barns are slated for demolition in July, nearly four years after the initial board vote on the plans, and only a few months before the county fair...

Kokoro no Gakko, an annual one-week program dedicated to the culture and arts of Japan, wrapped up its 37th year Friday during an open house at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple.  Formed in 1989, the school, which translates to School with a Heart, welcomed 53 students,...

Around 150 people gathered June 28 at Pinto Lake City Park to learn of the next steps on a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Watsonville from Executive Director of the California Energy Commission, Drew Bohan. The public meeting, hosted by Stop Lithium BESS...