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Floodwaters from the Pajaro River levee break reached northbound Highway 1 Sunday morning, forcing officials to shut down the highway at 9am. The northbound lanes of the highway are shut down from Salinas Road to Highway 129. As of 10:30am, the California Highway Patrol was preparing...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to purchase a mid-county building which, if it passes inspection, will house the County’s first residential mental crisis program for youth.  The new Children’s Crisis Stabilization Unit and Short Term...

Plans to build 624 units of affordable student housing on Cabrillo College’s Aptos campus got the green light Monday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to fund the project. The dual Senate and Assembly bills, both numbered 142, will provide $111 million for the...

WATSONVILLE—Two wacky sign situations in Watsonville have caught the attention of voters in the final week before the election. On the east side of the city by the Staff of Life Natural Foods grocery store, a pair of political signs for current District 7 City...

The Santa Cruz Roller Derby is rolling back into action with a new season on Saturday.  After being pushed onto the back burner during the Covid pandemic, close to 40 roller skaters, garbed in knee pads, helmets and skates, are back on the track. Now, with...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley, a nonprofit aiming to bring music education and performance to students, has been selected as a finalist for a prestigious national award. The Lewis Prize for Music announced 10 finalists for its fourth annual Accelerator Awards last week....

Zeke Fraser was hired as the new manager of the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, the board of directors announced Tuesday, capping off a search that began when former manager Dave Kegebein was fired in October. Fraser, a resident of Santa Cruz for nearly 30 years,...

MOUNT MADONNA—Middle and high school students from six schools in four counties joined their peers at Mount Madonna School (MMS) for its inaugural regional Model United Nations (Model UN or MUN) conference on Feb. 11.  The theme of the conference, “Climate Justice for All: Addressing...

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County announced $320,000 in grants issued by the Rise Together Fund for Racial Equity. Over the course of three granting cycles, the foundation has now awarded $1.1 million to the coalition. Founded in 2020, Rise Together is a coalition of Black,...

WATSONVILLE—As Watsonville residents on Monday shoveled mud from their homes and assessed damage from the storm that wrought havoc and destruction across Santa Cruz County, City officials were urging residents to prepare for the next deluge expected on Wednesday. “Prepare for flooding, and prepare for...