News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—After 12 years at the helm of Grey Bears, executive director Tim Brattan has announced that he will be retiring from his position by the end of 2022.  Grey Bears is a nonprofit aiming to improve the health and well-being of seniors and...

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Members of Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW) joined forces with Watsonville Public Works, Studio Judy G and others Wednesday to plant new trees in downtown Watsonville.  The effort is part of the ongoing Watsonville Community Forest Project by the city to plant thousands of new trees...

NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY—The North Monterey County Fire Protection District is ushering in a new era. A month after announcing it will promote longtime employee Joel Mendoza to Fire Chief, the North County Fire Board of Directors celebrated the approval of a benefit assessment that will...

Observations from across the Pajaro Valley and beyond.

Update (6am, Aug. 26) The CZU August Lightning Complex fires have now stretched to 80,137 acres and destroyed 538 structures, nearly all of them in Santa Cruz County. The Count of Santa Cruz on Tuesday established a damage assessment map that shows where structures have been...

The Fourth of July is a special day of celebration for every community around the nation. In celebrating Independence Day, we recognize everything and everyone that makes up the United States. That leaves plenty of room for interpretation. The definition of “American” is wholly...

A powerful winter storm roared through the Monterey Bay Sunday, tossing power poles and trees to the ground, closing roads, and flooding streets and homes.

SANTA CRUZ—A man was shot and killed as he sat in a car on the westside of Santa Cruz Tuesday afternoon. He has been identified as Juan Antonio Ruiz, 28, according to the Santa Cruz County Coroner’s Office.  The initial call to emergency dispatchers reported a...

Prosecution and defense painted sharply varying pictures of Adrian “A.J.”Gonzalez in closing arguments  in Superior Court Tuesday, and a jury will now determine whether the 25-year-old can be released after serving his sentence for the 2015 murder of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton. Prosecutor Tara George...