Local News

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) will seek funding from the state and federal government to support construction planning for a passenger rail line spanning the length of the county.  In a Thursday meeting, the commission voted unanimously to request $15 million to...

A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Watsonville violated state law when it approved housing development near the Watsonville Municipal Airport without first adopting required airport safety standards. In a 24-page decision issued Feb. 3, Judge Timothy Schmal sided...

Legal advocates are warning the public about a multistate scam targeting the immigrant community, with some victims losing as much as $30,000. According to Claudia Abasto Rivilla, founder and executive director of Salinas-based Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN), scammers target Spanish- and Indigenous-language speakers using information...

More than 150 people gathered Feb. 28 at Pinto Lake City Park to share ideas and information about a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) a few blocks away on Minto Road in Watsonville. The public meeting, hosted by Stop Lithium BESS in Santa Cruz,...

Several dozen Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers and staff were joined by community supporters early Tuesday morning at The Towers in Watsonville to rally against teacher layoffs that were approved on Dec. 11. PVUSD administrators declined to comment.  School districts typically cannot comment about ongoing...

Community Bridges and Hijos del Sol, a Salinas-based community art group, were part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Pajaro to celebrate the completion of “Life Transforms/La vida se transforma,” a 160 by 25-foot outdoor mural created in partnership with Pajaro residents. The mural took...

On Friday, about 150 high school juniors from across Santa Cruz County cast their first ballots on three issues that, if passed, would dramatically affect their lives. Measure A would lower the statewide voting age to 16. Measure B would prohibit the redrawing of state...

Members of Esperanza del Valle of the Pajaro Valley are joined Tuesday by performers from Vera Cruz, Mexico at the Mello Center Tuesday as part of the Santa Cruz Symphony's tour, The Orchestra Swings. With an auditorium packed with fourth and fifth graders from...

Gina Castañeda, who founded Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy, received this year’s Kim Crabbe Game Changers Award from the  U.S. Soccer Federation.  She received the award in Atlanta, Georgia Saturday for creating Aztecas in 2008 and for being a driving force behind a wealth of local...