Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear masks in some indoor public spaces around Santa Cruz County after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday morning moved the county into a lower tier within its community transmission tracker. Santa...

SACRAMENTO—A new bill authored by state Sen. John Laird and Assemblymember Robert Rivas will fund all of the state’s share of the design and construction phase of the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, which will help move forward the long-awaited work. “Today marks a...

Roughly 800 people showed up to the inaugural Nerdville, a comic-con-style event organized by Friends of Watsonville Parks and Community Services, on Sunday at the Gene Hoularis and Waldo Rodriguez Youth Center in downtown Watsonville. Organizers said they are already planning the second installment—tentatively...

PAJARO—In a factory centered in a rural stretch of Pajaro, a small team of workers and engineers was busy one Tuesday afternoon hand-building a new line of cross-country racing bicycles they hope one day will be used by Olympic athletes. The work was happening in...

The Chicano All Stars perform at the Watsonville City Plaza Thursday evening to a crowd of more than 100 people. The free live concerts are part of the city's Music in the Plaza Concert Series. Up next, on Oct. 29 at 6pm, the city...

AROMAS—A 75-year-old Aptos man died Sept. 24 in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 129, or Riverside Road, at Rogge Lane near Aromas. Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Dean Peppas. Alyssa Gutierrez of the California Highway Patrol said Peppas...

After a year and a half of pandemic challenges, Watsonville Yoga Dance & Healing Arts is once again finding its footing.  The business is settling into its new location (734 East Lake Ave. #16) while expanding its programming and services for children and adults both...

Before the CZU Lightning Complex fires decimated Big Basin Redwoods State Park, visitors who hiked the trails and camped beneath the redwoods saw different things: towering trees; various and beautiful flora and fauna; abundant wildlife, babbling brooks and starry skies.  But when Traci Bliss went...

WATSONVILLE—The sails are trimmed tight, the masts lean toward the water’s edge and the rudders carve a steady path around the final buoy toward the finish line. As a gentle breeze nudges the lead sailboat—just one meter long—to a victory, the hollers fill the...