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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A Pacific Collegiate School student and her friends are fighting for changes in the law after their friend and her brother were violently removed from their grandmother’s Santa Cruz home in October and taken to an undisclosed site to undergo court-ordered family...

Hundreds of people packed city and county meeting chambers throughout the day on Tuesday to ask local elected leaders to pass resolutions demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. The action resulted in the Santa Cruz City Council creating a special meeting to discuss...

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....

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday will decide whether to grant a special use permit, a zoning change and a general plan amendment that would allow Ceiba College Preparatory Academy to remain at its Locust Street location permanently. If the Council votes no, it could...

WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Supervisor candidate Jimmy Dutra told a group of reporters and roughly two-dozen supporters that allegations of sexual abuse made against him last week are “completely false and untrue,” and stem from a dispute with his late father’s ex-wife over his estate. Dutra...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville bade goodbye to three outgoing members on Tuesday, two of them longtime leaders with decades of combined experience between them.  Lowell Hurst and Rebecca Garcia served for years on the council, including stints as mayor. Francisco “Paco” Estrada was elected in...

Work is underway to bore a tunnel under Highway 1 in Watsonville, which is part of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake Water Supply pipeline project. The weeks-long tunnel job, just south of Riverside Drive, will not interrupt Highway 1 traffic flow, said...

WATSONVILLE—Francisco Elcanto schleps a five-gallon bucket into the back seat of his car. A peek under the lid reveals an assortment of neatly packed cleaning supplies. Today, all he needs is some cleaning supplies, which he is borrowing from the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center.  The...

WATSONVILLE—Around 240 people attended an art reception and walk Sunday in downtown Watsonville to view the works of San Francisco artist Juan R. Fuentes.  The tour stemmed off a reception at PV Arts in the Porter Building, where the current exhibit features more than 50...

Help plant flowers at the fairgrounds The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Foundation is seeking volunteers to plant flowers for the upcoming Santa Cruz County Fair.  A workday is scheduled for July 27 at 4pm.  Planting will begin at 4pm and will wrap up by 6:30pm at which...