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WATSONVILLE—Work is underway at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in preparation for the annual Holiday Lights drive-thru light show. Born out of the 2020 Covid lockdowns as a way for the community to celebrate the season safely, the event invites families to drive though colorful...

Death Cap, or amanita phalloides, mushrooms are part of a large display of mushrooms at the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair Friday. The Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History teamed up to present the 50th anniversary event which...

A Christmas tree is dressed up with a Victorian-era dress at the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. A wealth of early day garb is part of the PVHA's exhibit where visitors are welcome to stop by and get a taste of earlier times in the...

The causes of food insecurity are complex, but research suggests that health, housing and employment are key factors.  Feeding America—the country’s largest hunger relief organization—reports that annual healthcare costs for food-insecure adults are on average $1,834 higher than food-secure adults. Food insecurity, as defined by...

Watsonville Brillante, the massive, 10-phase outdoor mosaic project in Watsonville, has just been named Best in Show in the Mosaic and Glass Arts International 2023 exhibition series in Buffalo, New York.  Lead artist Kathleen Crocetti of Watsonville learned of the prestigious announcement Wednesday. “When I first...

John R. Walker Jr., a major fixture in Watsonville’s landscape of firefighting, parades and labor task force, died Jan. 27 of pancreatic cancer. He was 84. Walker  served as a Watsonville Reserve Firefighter for three decades, and left that post as Reserve Lt. Co. No....

A 67-year-old Salinas man died and another man was injured early Wednesday morning in a head-on crash on San Juan Road near Aromas. California Highway Patrol officer James Burch confirmed the victim was the driver of a Chrysler minivan. The Chrysler was traveling east...

Mount Madonna School announced Cecily Kelly, Mariah Cohen and Samuel Kaplan as the 2023 co-valedictorians and Zoey Ocampo-Sobkoviak as salutatorian. Mount Madonna School's 2023 high school graduation ceremony will be held at the school’s upper campus on June 15 at 10:30am. “The graduating class is comprised of academically strong and creative students,” said Head...

Aldo Valenzuela Roman (standing, at right), a dance instructor from Michoacán, Mexico, leads members of the youth group, Estrellas De Esperanza, which is headed up by Ruby Vasquez. Roman was helping students learn traditional Mexican dances Thursday inside the Watsonville Center for the Arts....

PAJARO—Motorists who have been taking hours-long detours since waters from a flood forced the closure of Highway 1 saw a measure of relief Thursday morning, after officials opened the road. Officials cautioned, however, that parts of the highway between Salinas Road and Highway 129...