Local News

The annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count conducted in January showed that 1,648 people were experiencing homelessness, a 12% increase from 2025. County officials cautioned that much of the increase reflects changes in how the count was conducted rather than a direct year-over-year increase in homelessness. For the...

This story has been updated from an earlier version. Hundreds of people around the county joined up with law and fire agencies Tuesday during the annual National Night Out. Over four decades ago 2.5 million people in 400 communities in 23 states around the U.S....

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to place a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot that would fund an array of “safety net” services in the face of looming state and federal cuts. The board also declared the...

A year and a half after the massive battery fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant, a final environmental assessment concludes that off-site soil, sediment and surface water sampled around the facility do not appear to pose an unacceptable long-term risk to people or...

In a special meeting Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will consider declaring a state of fiscal distress and asking voters to approve a temporary half-cent sales tax that county officials say is needed to offset steep federal funding cuts and protect...

The annual Strawberry Festival drew scores of people Saturday, who browsed among merchandise sales booths, sampled from dozens of food vendors, rode rides, played games and watched live entertainment. 

More than 150 volunteers gathered Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz with a simple mission: make sure thousands of Santa Cruz County students are ready to begin the school year. Working assembly-line style during the 17th annual Stuff the Bus Stuff-A-Thon, volunteers filled...

Several candidates running for a seat on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees for the November election met July 25 at a forum hosted by the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers.  Roughly 30 teachers attended, alongside several candidates for school board, including...

A new art exhibit is going up at PV Arts at the Porter Building in downtown Watsonville and runs from Aug. 4 through Sept. 19.  “Body Marking: Art, Ritual & Story” explores global practice of marking the body as a form of personal expression, cultural...

Eddie Duino was 8 years old the first time his father brought him to what was then the Watsonville Country Club. Nearly eight decades later, he still walks the fairways of the same Royal Oaks course, now known as Pajaro Valley Golf Club, teaching the...