Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved an agreement that increases every teacher’s yearly salary by $4,000, retroactive to July 1, 2021. Teachers were not the only ones that benefited from the agreement, which was passed tentatively on Feb. 16. Nurses,...

Watsonville Police on Wednesday arrested a woman for an alleged 40-minute crime and vandalism spree that included breaking religious statues in two stores, toppling a 15-foot crucifix in a church and stealing roses and a soda.

WATSONVILLE—The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently renewed its call to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers change how it distributes its flood control funding. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend, a NACo board member, says that, too often, funding decisions for federal flood...

PAJARO—A 69-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of molesting at least two girls.  The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested Crescenciano Figueroa, Jr., of Pajaro, on charges of child molestation. Figueroa, known by many in the community as “Chano,” was taken into custody on Fremont...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting is expected to make a decision on a long-awaited park project at Ramsay Park that would create a haven for the area’s mountain bikers. City staff is proposing that the old Ramsay Park skatepark on the Harkins Slough...

For more than three decades Ana Ortega has been making folks happy. As the owner of Ana’s Flowers, a modest flower tent adjoining the long-standing Capitola Produce, she has thrown her talent and keen eye into making dazzling flower arrangements for everyone from everyday passersby to grand-scale events.

APTOS—Last fall, Cabrillo Gallery opened its doors to the public for the first time in 17 months. The annual “12x12: An Open Invitational” exhibit was a return to in-person viewing after a string of virtual shows. But with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 surging and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Saturday morning issued evacuation warnings for residents in the Felton Grove neighborhood (FEL–E008), and Paradise Park in Santa Cruz (CRZ–E081). The warnings came as heavy rain and wind overnight drenched the County, toppling trees and power lines and...

Last-minute fine-tuning is underway at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds to throw the switch for two million lights at the fourth annual Holiday Lights drive-thru, which runs Nov. 24-Dec. 24. Event coordinator Dave Kegebein said new additions this year, including tulips and poinsettias, large snails,...

By TARA FATEMI WALKER SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) and its network of more than 70 partner agencies, including nonprofits such as food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, work hard to combat food insecurity.  But because of new requirements mandated by Senate Bill 1383,...