Local News

Santa Cruz County residents will be able to register to vote, obtain replacement ballots and get other election services at eight local libraries this month. The Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Office is holding its Ballots & Books events throughout October in preparation for the Nov....

A 14-year-old girl who disappeared with her father while authorities investigated the death of her newborn daughter has been found safe in Mexico, and her father has been arrested, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office announced Sunday. The victim was rescued by Mexican law enforcement, according...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustees on Wednesday will consider final approval of a three-year contract with the district’s teachers union that includes ongoing salary increases while the district continues to grapple with substantial deficit spending. The Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers has already ratified...

After a quarter-century with the Pajaro Valley-based Wild Farm Alliance, Executive Director Jo Ann Baumgartner has recently retired. She has been with the organization for more than 25 years where she started out working on a conventional research farm in the 1980s.  After owning an organic...

Standing at the new Felton pump track a few weeks ago, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chair Monica Martinez watched children race around a facility that she said had taken years of planning, public meetings and collaboration to build. The children, she said, knew...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce and Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County join Santa Cruz Community Health in opposing Proposition 44. If passed, Prop. 44 would impose penalties on nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Centers that spend...

Near the terminus of the new bike path along South Green Valley Road—at the entrance to Pinto Lake County Park—lies a construction site that, by the end of the year, will be Watsonville’s second skatepark. It will also be the only one of its kind...

Watsonville High School’s homecoming parade makes its way along Main Street in downtown Watsonville Wednesday. The WHS Wildcatz were set to take on St. Francis High School on their home turf on Friday.

Though Jody Chiang just started as a dentist at Dientes in July, her journey with the organization began years before when she sat in the same chair as a child—often. Growing up, Chiang dealt with her fair share of dental problems including cavities and tooth...

Santa Cruz County’s agricultural production increased in value in 2025, fueled largely by a strong year for strawberries, according to the county’s annual crop report. The estimated gross production value of agricultural commodities reached $762.96 million, up 2.8% from $741.92 million in 2024. The figures...