Local News

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 Apple King,” a novel inspired by Watsonville’s Croatian community and its historic role in the region’s apple industry, recently won the Connecticut Author Project Award and will be featured in an issue of the national Library Journal publication. Author Barbara Anne King was born...

About 150 people gathered in Santa Cruz July 17, for a third meeting held over the past few months to send the message that proposed Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Watsonville, Aptos and Santa Cruz are not welcome. “These folks are pursuing these systems...

Workers on Friday were installing 34 tiny homes that will be part of Recurso de Fuerza, a community meant to house homeless residents living on the Pajaro River Levee. The village in the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church at 118 1st St. in. Watsonville,...

The County of Santa Cruz on Wednesday named Nicole Coburn as its new Chief Executive Officer, just over three-months after Carlos Palacios announced his retirement from the position. The Board of Supervisors unanimously chose Coburn after a nationwide search during which 139 candidates from across...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s Ramsay Park will soon be a showcase for local art. The Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission at its Monday night meeting unanimously approved a trio of images that will be made into movable murals and another image that will be made into a mosaic. When...

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend tonight will host a tele-town hall from 6-7pm with guest Tom AmRhein to talk about the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. AmRhein, the former president of the Farm Bureau and the current chair of...

APTOS—A man was arrested Thursday in the Safeway parking lot in Aptos after he allegedly provided illegal drugs to a minor. When Special Enforcement Detectives with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office contacted Benjamin Reynolds, he was in possession of numerous baggies of cocaine, marijuana,...

To celebrate Watsonville's sesquicentennial, Pajaro Valley Arts wanted to create a public art project that recognized the city's people and agriculture.

A weekly column that celebrates local businesses — especially eateries, watering holes, coffee shops and the like. TONY NUÑEZ Food La Fondita: enchiladas Having our offices in downtown Watsonville has been a delight for me come lunchtime. So many great restaurants. So little time—and money. I’ve started to...