Briefs: County Fair seeks theme; Elks Lodge celebrates St. Patrick’s Day
County Fair seeks theme
The Santa Cruz County Fair announced the return of the annual fair theme contest.
The fair invites the community to submit theme ideas that would reflect the spirit of the County Fair in a few words. The theme should reflect the spirit...
Rain cancels Watsonville tree lighting event tonight
The Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony, scheduled for 5pm on Nov. 17, has been canceled due to predicted thunderstorms and rain, said Jessica Beebe, recreation supervisor at Watsonville Parks & Community Services.
The main switch to turn on the thousands of lights around the plaza and...
Neighbors challenge Pajaro housing project
PAJARO—A group of Pajaro neighbors has filed a lawsuit against a developer, the County of Monterey and its Board of Supervisors, challenging an agricultural workforce housing project in Pajaro that would place 45 units on Susan Street, a dead-end road in the rural agricultural...
Eviction decision tabled for Meals on Wheels
LIVE OAK—The Live Oak School District (LOSD) Board of Trustees on Wednesday tabled a decision of whether to enforce an eviction notice to the senior programs using their building in Live Oak.
Meals on Wheels—overseen by Community Bridges—and Senior Network Services both use the building...
PVUSD ethnic studies contract won’t come back for revote
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will not revisit a decision made in September when it voted to not renew a contract with a company that provided training for educators to teach ethnic studies at the district’s three comprehensive high schools.
PVUSD’s...
Holiday celebrations on deck in Watsonville
A 40-foot Sequoia tree rolled into downtown Watsonville Tuesday morning as ordered by the City of Watsonville as the centerpiece of its annual holiday celebrations.
The tree was lifted off a flatbed truck and hoisted into place in the plaza with the aid of a...
Parker, Bilicich deadlocked for Watsonville City Council seat
WATSONVILLE—The race for the District 7 seat on the Watsonville City Council has been the tightest contest in all of Santa Cruz County this general election.
Current District 7 representative Ari Parker and former Watsonville mayor Nancy Bilicich are separated by a mere 10 votes,...
Candidates vying for Santa Cruz County’s District 2 seat
Two of the four people who have so far signaled their intentions to replace outgoing Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend for the District 2 seat are veteran policymakers with years of experience in the public sector.
Kim De Serpa, who has served on the...
Carrillo sentenced to life in prison without parole
SANTA CRUZ—The man who slaughtered Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller during a violent crime spree two years ago was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Steven Carrillo, 34, also received prison time for attempting to kill four other...
Thousands attend Strawberry Festival
A collection of images from the Watsonville Strawberry Festival from Aug. 2-4.
Powerful storms clobber Central Coast
A string of strong winter storms slammed the Central Coast over the past several days, toppling power and communication lines, knocking down scores of...





















