Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Returns late Tuesday night show Santa Cruz County Supervisorial candidate Manu Koenig far outpacing John Leopold for the First District seat. If Koenig’s lead holds, it will unseat four-term incumbent Leopold. He holds roughly 56% of the 28,064 votes that have been tallied...

No one came to our door Saturday night for Halloween. Typically we get dozens of kids in costumes, families roaming the streets, strangers greeting strangers at the doorstep. Not this year. Downtown Santa Cruz, however, came out in force with, what police said was...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission at its Monday virtual meeting recommended the City Council remove the George Washington bust from the City Plaza. The recommendation, put forth by Commissioner Jessica Carrasco, deviates from that of Parks and Community Services staff, which proposed that the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division announced Thursday that it has awarded $619,900 in health equity grants to 20 organizations to help address disparities among populations impacted by Covid-19. The funds come from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission at its Monday virtual meeting is expected to make a recommendation to the City Council on the future of the George Washington bust in the City Plaza. City staff, according to the prepared staff report, is recommending the bust...

On Thursday I drove by the new Starbucks on Lee Road which is still under construction, as is the towering Hampton Inn & Suites behind it. The new Starbucks, with a drive-thru, will mark the fifth Starbucks in Watsonville. The coffee chain started in...

APTOS—Four 160-foot flag poles that once served as radio towers and loomed over the heavily-traveled intersection of State Park Drive at Highway 1 were brought back to Earth Tuesday. A crew from the Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. used a huge crane to grab onto...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously approved a plan to add ethnic studies as a graduation requirement, a move that comes on the heels of a failed attempt by state lawmakers to create a similar statewide rule earlier...

WATSONVILLE—Work began over the weekend on a major restoration of a long-standing outdoor mural at the La Manzana center. Muralist Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda, who is the creative drive behind scores of murals around Santa Cruz County, Salinas and San Diego, said it was time to...

SACRAMENTO—The California Highway Patrol is set to swear in 77 new officers at a ceremony today at its Academy in West Sacramento.  The move comes as the CHP is down a large number of officers during the pandemic blended with an unusual number of retiring...