Local News

The Santa Cruz Roller Derby is rolling back into action with a new season on Saturday.  After being pushed onto the back burner during the Covid pandemic, close to 40 roller skaters, garbed in knee pads, helmets and skates, are back on the track. Now, with...

Community foundations in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties are responding to the COVID-19 crisis by creating a fund that will financially aid residents most impacted by the coronavirus. The funds will be made available to nonprofit agencies and will be used to address the immediate...

WATSONVILLE—A 31-year-old Bakersfield man suspected of shooting a 24-year-old Watsonville man multiple times earlier this year was arrested on April 24. Watsonville Police believe Edgar Patino on Feb. 28 shot a Watsonville resident in the parking lot of the Stone Creek Apartments on 300 Bree...

WATSONVILLE—This year’s Santa Cruz County Fair began with a bang, attracting thousands of people to the five-day bacchanalia of food, agriculture and art, and was on track to match last year’s blockbuster attendance. That changed on Sunday, when a rare late-summer rainstorm doused the region,...

There is a tiny seed that at one time was second only to corn, as a very important part in the diet of the ancient Aztecs.  The seeds come out of tiny pink flowers that grow in large clusters on the Amaranth bush; 60,000 seeds...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz woman was arrested Sunday night for allegedly fleeing after striking a man crossing Capitola Road in a motorized wheelchair. The victim, a 69-year-old Santa Cruz man, was taken to Natividad Medical Center, where he later died.  According to California Highway Patrol Officer...

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy who shot 15-year-old Lucas Smith after a standoff with police will not face criminal charges, Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell said Friday.

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District is asking the public to help in its search for a new superintendent. In a series of trilingual input sessions lasting through Thursday, the district will ask what characteristics the new superintendent should have to best meet the needs...

Former Watsonville Parks and Community Services Department park services manager Ernest “Big E” Contreras was honored Friday with his own tree in Watsonville Plaza, nearly two years after he took leave from the department.

WATSONVILLE—Following an enormously successful fundraiser for the Fairgrounds Foundation—the first-ever Holiday Lights drive-thru tour during November and December—more events are now being lined up with a similar footprint. Next in line: The first-ever Drive-Thru Crab Feed, slated for March 6. “Holiday Lights was a resounding success,”...