News

A man died Aug. 6 after his car veered off of San Juan Road and struck a tree. The California Highway Patrol said officers responded to a traffic crash on San Juan Road, east of Tarpey Road just after 10pm. Preliminary investigation indicates a 25-year-old male...

The Timber Fire in Big Sur has now charred 4,245 acres and has led to evacuations and the closure of Highway 1 in the area. Residents along the Highway 1 corridor from Partington Creek to Pheneger Creek and to the east remain under evacuation...

With forecasts pointing toward a potentially wetter-than-average winter, local flood officials are moving ahead with nearly $740,000 in contracts and additional spending to clear vegetation, remove sediment and strengthen portions of the Pajaro River levee system. The Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency board unanimously approved...

Santa Cruz County will test steam as an alternative to chemical soil fumigation on about 25 acres of Pajaro Valley farmland under a $175,000 state-funded pilot project set to begin this fall. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation is funding the project, which will be...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a process that will allow them to approve their own raises. In a 3-2 vote, the board agreed to move away from a formula tying supervisors’ salaries to Superior Court judges, opening the door to...

Local law enforcement, education and human services officials joined U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta on Tuesday to reassure immigrant families that local agencies will not participate in federal immigration enforcement, as officials described growing fear among residents seeking health care, education, housing and other services. Panetta...

During President Donald Trump’s first term in office, which began in 2017, his administration proposed a sweeping plan to open nearly all U.S. coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling, including 47 proposed lease sales. Those plans were thwarted amid opposition from local, state...

Young voters barely turned out for the June primary, while people over 55 made a heavy showing.  Registered voters over the age of 55 displayed a turnout rate of about 67.83%, while those between the ages of 18-34 had a  29.52% turnout rate, based on...

Editor's note: This story has been modified to correct an error: The family of Mas Hashimoto did not oppose having the school named after him. After news broke in March on Cesar Chavez’s sexual assault allegations, local leaders across the nation have begun removing his...

The annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count conducted in January showed that 1,648 people were experiencing homelessness, a 12% increase from 2025. County officials cautioned that much of the increase reflects changes in how the count was conducted rather than a direct year-over-year increase in homelessness. For the...