Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Monterey Bay Rose Society (MBRS) will once again be holding its annual series of free rose pruning classes at various locations across the region. Things kick off Saturday at 10:30am at the Display Rose Garden at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As students prepare to return to school on Jan. 4, districts across the county are offering families a tool to test their children for Covid-19 before they return. While not required for return to class, the tests are “highly recommended,”  Soquel Union Elementary...

CENTRAL COAST—Winter started Dec. 21 and colder, wet weather came through the door with it. A series of storms have dumped heavy rains across the Central Coast and record-breaking snow in the Sierra Nevada. Just weeks ago warnings of severe drought and water rationing were...

WATSONVILLE—A new 50-by-54-foot colorful outdoor mural of a humpback whale was recently completed at Marinovich Community Center on Second Street. Painted on the blacktop of the basketball court, work began on Oct. 25 by Watsonville artists Augie WK and Jessica Carmen. “Once we were done and...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Public Works employees teamed up with Watsonville police and fire departments Tuesday to dismantle a camp that homeless advocates set up on Dec. 12 in a city-owned parking lot adjacent to the Buddhist Temple on Bridge Street. With signage posted about the small encampment...

APTOS—The family of the 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on the Aptos High School campus in August has filed a claim against Pajaro Valley Unified School District, alleging that the district was negligent in ending the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, and...

WATSONVILLE—For the first time ever, the city of Watsonville has its very own poet laureate. Longtime resident Robert Gómez will for the next two years be working to advance the literary arts throughout the Pajaro Valley.  A poet laureate is appointed by a government or...

WATSONVILLE—In early December, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved next year’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), a 188-page list of projects the county hopes to complete or move forward on over the next five years. The $966 million plan includes upgrades to various...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Animal shelters across California are currently seeing an influx of rabbits and other “pocket pets” being surrendered and put up for adoption.  Erika Smart, program and development manager at Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS), says that the increase in rabbits, guinea pigs,...

WATSONVILLE—The man who was arrested on Dec. 22 on suspicion of robbing the Freedom Centre Rite Aid store in Watsonville at gunpoint 24-hours earlier has a lengthy history with local police. Raymond Quiñonez, in late 2001, was arrested after making a string of bomb threats...