Local News

A sense of normalcy returned to Santa Cruz County last week as the local high schools kicked off the cross country season. Watsonville High School squared off against Harbor High School on Feb. 18 in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League competition, which was the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday identified Patrick Diaz, 29, as a suspect in a Jan. 13 shooting that occurred on the 2500 block of Soquel Drive in Live Oak. Daniel Anthony Tostado, 19, of Watsonville, was arrested on Feb. 16 in...

WATSONVILLE—On Feb. 17 the Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) unanimously adopted the 2021 Cost of Service Rate Study and Resolution 2021-05. The move adopts procedures for public hearing, notice and protest concerning proposed revisions to charges for augmentation...

WATSONVILLE—The man who died Feb. 22 after being shot nine days earlier on the Pajaro River levee has been identified as Daniel Godinez, 46, a homeless man from Watsonville, Santa Cruz Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said Wednesday. Godinez was shot at least twice on Feb....

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Latino Role Models conference will return for its 11th year—in a virtual format—Saturday from 9:30am-1pm. The free event was founded and is still organized by Senderos, a nonprofit that aims to create successful pathways for the Latinx community of Santa Cruz...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council approved two housing developments at its Tuesday night meeting, paving the way for 103 new apartments on two of the city’s major arterial roads. Both projects nearly received unanimous approvals. Bill and Neva Hansen’s 50-unit, market-rate apartment complex on Main Street,...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to join a state-run rent relief program, which makes more than $16 million in federal funds available to local renters unable to pay their rent and utilities due to...

WATSONVILLE—A man who was shot Feb. 13 on the Pajaro River levee at the end of Walker Street has died from his injuries, Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. The case is now being investigated as a homicide, she said. According to Pulido, officers responded...

By Stacy Cowley and Jim Tankersley, of The New York Times Aiming to put its own stamp on the Paycheck Protection Program, the Biden administration on Monday abruptly changed crucial program rules in ways intended to help the smallest and neediest companies, which have sometimes...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—School district superintendents from 11 districts throughout Santa Cruz County will hold a town hall meeting Thursday to talk about bringing younger students back into the classroom. The discussion, led by Dr. Steven McGee of Dignity Health and Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz of Dominican...