Local News

WATSONVILLE—California State Senator John Laird joined forces with the California National Guard and the Second Harvest Food Bank Friday during a food distribution at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. “This is an unprecedented private and public partnership with a huge helping hand from the State...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School community last year was shaken when a beloved three-decades old mural on the wall of the school’s cafeteria was painted over during a construction project. The move, directed by site administration and the district facilities department, outraged the artists involved in...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Four new battery-electric buses will be ready to roll through the county by fall 2021 as part of METRO’s public transportation fleet. The first two electric buses of the quartet will be used for the Zero-Emission Watsonville Circulator Operating Project. Through the project,...

Continued decreases in case and positivity rates have Santa Cruz County on track to enter a less restrictive tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan on March 31, County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said at Thursday’s weekly virtual press conference. According to data released...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A serial killer who murdered 13 people nearly five decades ago—most of them in Santa Cruz County—was denied parole Thursday during a virtual hearing. Herbert Mullin, 74, will not be eligible for parole for another seven years. He is in custody at Mule...

WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville hired Katie Nuñez in March of last year to supervise the Watsonville Senior Center. Her tasks then were to bring the community hub into the 21st century, and create a slew of programs for the area’s older adults. But just two...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on March 10 approved a second interim budget report that shows an improved outlook from two months ago, when projections showed the district would be unable to meet expenses over the next three years. That placed...

Agriculture, like most industries across the U.S., has faced numerous challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic this past year. From worker safety to supply chain shortages, everyone from large corporations to small family farms have felt the effects.  Which is why this year’s National Agriculture Day...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—For the past few years, local real estate agents have seen a drastic dip in inventory of homes in Santa Cruz County. And with the ongoing pandemic and recent wildfires that destroyed close to 1,000 homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the...

Kaiser Permanente is opening a Covid-19 vaccination hub Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz for eligible members and others in the community, the health care provider announced in a press release Wednesday. Dependent upon vaccine supply, the site is expected to operate seven...