Local News

After a significant portion of the Bonny Doon community mobilized to try to keep a man who raped a 21-year-old woman in the 1980s from moving to town, Santa Cruz County is now seeking changes to California law, so it can have additional tools...

WATSONVILLE—Judy Gittelsohn has big plans for the downtown Watsonville arts scene. For the past two months, Gittelsohn has been slowly but surely moving her artwork, supplies and more into her new studio at 430 Main St. Large paintings line the walls of the small yet...

WATSONVILLE—A 21-year-old man died Sunday night after he was shot near Coward and Carlton roads, a rural area in the outskirts of Watsonville. The victim has been identified as Abel Ruiz. According to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Robbins, a passerby saw a man who...

WATSONVILLE—Residents flocked to the corner of Beach and Walker streets this weekend to experience an electric light rail streetcar that could one day be implemented in Santa Cruz County. Coast Futura (CF), an alliance of people from various county organizations, scheduled the demonstration with Roaring...

Update (1pm, Oct. 16) The Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit (CZU) announced that the evacuation orders put in place Friday evening in response to the Estrada Fire have been changed to evacuation warnings. It also announced that the fire was 25% contained. ORIGINAL STORY WATSONVILLE—Firefighters battling a...

WATSONVILLE—A prescribed burn that got out of hand near the southern border of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties has scorched at least 150 acres as of late Friday, the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit (CZU) said. Cal Fire CZU at 8:41pm said...

Flames engulf a log pile and several outbuildings on a hillside above the 100 block of Hudson Landing Road Friday in Las Lomas. North Monterey County Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said the 1pm fire was about an acre in size. Flames raced across dray...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District on Wednesday approved a resolution proclaiming October as LGBTQ+ History Month, a move that garnered unanimous approval from the board members in attendance and support from people at the meeting. Trustee Jennifer Schacher, who worked to fly LGBTQ flags...

WATSONVILLE—Calabasas and Bradley elementary schools have since the beginning of the school year been beset by at least six power outages—some lasting for hours—that disrupt students’ academic day and make technology-dependent lessons all but impossible. Worse, the loss of power means that the ventilation systems...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s first retail cannabis outlet, called The Hook, opens Friday. The 3,600-square-foot warehouse is located on a stretch of road on Hangar Way in a quickly growing part of the city that includes the Slough Brewing Collective and Santa Cruz Cider Co. Co-owner Bryce Berryessa...