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Library accepting nominations for Youth Poet Laureate The Watsonville Public Library is accepting nominations for the new Watsonville Youth Poet Laureate.  The program’s primary goal is to recognize those under the age of 20 for their literary achievements with a commitment to and a passion for...

Members of Taiko San Francisco perform Saturday at the 29th annual Japanese Cultural Fair in Santa Cruz. The one-day event featured music and dance, a tea ceremony, ikebana (flower) and bonsai demonstrations and a kimono workshop, information tables and various Japanese goods for sale. 

Aptos resident Laura Dover-Smith was walking on a trail in Watsonville’s sloughs on her lunch break one sunny Wednesday, an activity she tries to do daily. She says the walk affords her views of wildlife, but also gives her a peaceful respite from the bustling...

People venture into Esperanza Community Farms on Lee Road in Watsonville Oct. 7 during the 10th annual Open Farms Tour. Every year, a handful of farms around Santa Cruz County open their doors over a chosen weekend to give a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how...

The County of Monterey has ended its Non-Congregate Shelter (NCS) program, which has supported Pajaro flooding victims since March. Families in need will still have access to housing services, but County officials have moved the program closer to its homeless services providers.  Under the program—estimated to...

A major upgrade on a section of Freedom Boulevard, between Alta Vista Avenue and Green Valley Road, is in its final stage. The months-long job included fresh asphalt, multi-modal bike lanes, new curbs, sidewalks and gutters (in places), new ADA ramps, a bus pullout at...

On both sides of Watsonville Municipal Airport’s two runways lay so-called airport safety zones, where development is either limited or restricted. With limited space left for the city to develop—and with mandates for new housing from the State of California—those safety zones will be at...

Caroline’s Non Profit Thrift Store opened in 2010 with a single goal: raise funds to help the nonprofit organizations that work with children with special needs and their families. Founder Christine Licker says her inspiration was her daughter Caroline, who died at 16 after receiving...

Since June, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees has been considering a plan to retool its Visual and Performing Arts program at its 16 elementary schools, a proposal that includes splitting art teachers between most schools. The shift would be part of...

It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies within the Santa Cruz County community that many of the people who labor in the vast agricultural fields of the Pajaro Valley cannot afford the food they harvest. According to the County of Santa Cruz, one in...