Local News

WATSONVILLE—Since February, a small group of women has been hard at work, learning the detailed world of the beauty industry in Watsonville’s new—and Santa Cruz County’s only—cosmetology program. The new program began with just six students, although Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education Director Nancy Bilicich expects...

United Way Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education have launched the 17th annual Stuff the Bus campaign, with a goal of providing 2,500 backpacks filled with school supplies to students experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity and other hardships. The campaign, which...

Workers are expected to begin demolishing the Capitola Library on Monday to make way for the city’s new library, with construction estimated to begin on Dec. 1. It is tentatively set to open in late 2019.

WASHINGTON—Cathay Pacific Airways, convinced that digital proof of coronavirus vaccination will bring about the return of safe international travel, asked its pilots and crew to try out a new mobile app that showed their vaccination status on a recent flight from Hong Kong to...

A group of bikes enter turn 2, also known as "the hairpin" during the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. (Photo by Robert T. Higaki)

Tarmo Hannula: When my friend Noel, a family attorney, dropped me off in downtown Watsonville early Wednesday I walked into the Second Street Café for a coffee. For years I’ve carried my own reusable thermos to save on throw-away cups. In line I got...

APTOS—The stabbing attack that killed an Aptos High School senior Tuesday occurred nearly one year after the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees ended the district’s School Resource Officer program, which placed law enforcement officers on high school campuses. The district opted instead...

A painting crew has been busy adding a fresh coat of paint and a new look Thursday and Friday to the long-standing Beach Street Cafe on West Beach Street. Help is on the way for small businesses hit by sweeping closures, layoffs, and downsizing because...

A weekly column that celebrates local businesses — especially eateries, watering holes, coffee shops and the like.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) has introduced a number of new incentives aimed at attracting qualified bus operators to address an “unprecedented crisis in staffing levels” in public transportation. Thanks to a recent contract extension between METRO and the three unions...