Aptos native Nikki Hiltz punches ticket to 2024 Olympics
Aptos native Nikki Hiltz guaranteed their spot at the upcoming Summer Games following a record-setting performance at last weekend’s U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.
The 29-year old middle-distance runner won the women’s 1500-meters finals in 3 minutes, 55.33 seconds, setting both a personal-best and...
Sí Se Puede breaks ground for new facility
The new center will include a 30-bed residential treatment building, therapy rooms and a medical clinic.
Bigger fines in SC County for fireworks violations
Residents in Santa Cruz County will face steep fines for using fireworks this Fourth of July, including at area beaches.
“Illegal fireworks can be a threat to public safety, spark wildfires, and be harmful to the environment, vulnerable residents, and pets,” Santa Cruz County spokesman...
Watsonville man nabbed in pot dispensary burglary
Watsonville Police on Sunday used a newly acquired drone to capture a man in the act of allegedly burglarizing a marijuana growing business.
Omar Cortez Ramirez, 40, was charged with first-degree burglary and resisting arrest. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu...
Housing projects taking shape in Pajaro, Watsonville
Just across the Pajaro River from Watsonville in Monterey County, hundreds of seasonal farmworkers are now living in a recently completed housing complex created for them at the end of Susan Street.
Buses take them to their job sites, and return them to the gated...
California Supreme Court strikes anti-tax bill
A proposed law that would have retroactively invalidated voter-approved tax measures throughout the state was removed from the November ballot by the California Supreme Court Thursday, a move that came as a relief to jurisdictions that had already budgeted the revenue.
The Taxpayer Protection and...
Fully restored Castro Adobe ready for visitors
It was 17 years ago that a group of volunteers began to restore the Rancho San Andreas Castro Adobe, a structure whose endurance over its 176-year lifespan helps paint a picture of California history.
Now fully restored and equipped with interpretative displays, touchable exhibits and...
New county government center open for business
Three years after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase the former West Marine building on Westridge Drive, a convergence of city and county officials gathered at the site Tuesday to celebrate its new incarnation.
The 121,000 square-foot South County Government Center...
Beach death being investigated
A man died at Moran Beach along East Cliff Drive in Live Oak Friday.
Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff'’s Office identified the victim as Hans Materne, 45, of Atlanta, Ga.
The Sheriff’s Office said deputies, Harbor Patrol, State Parks, and fire personnel were...
Community shows its pride
Elaine Johnson was 15 before she realized that the “aunt” who lived with her grandmother was actually her grandmother’s partner of four decades.
In those days, LGBTQ largely had to live in the shadows, lest they draw scorn from a society not yet evolved enough...
Letters to the Editor Dec. 12-26
Praise for Watsonville Fire Chief Lopez
In 1996, I took my New School students to the Watsonville Fire Department on Second Street for an educational...





















