Local News

Pajaro Middle School got a major landscape overhaul Saturday during a four-hour community event, which included the planting of shade trees, native plants, edible gardens, a fruit tree orchard, and other environmental conservation features. The so-called Celebration of Trees project was staged by Watsonville Wetlands...

One week after announcing that funding woes could force local Head Start and early Head Start programs to close, Encompass Community Services—which oversees the programs—announced that they will remain open through Oct. 31. The announcement means that the 250 families that depend on the early...

More than half of pregnant women in Monterey County are exposed to pesticides believed to be harmful to their fetuses, and a quarter of the pesticide used in California is applied in Monterey County. Those statistics are part of a study released Sept. 30 by...

Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp, a Watsonville native known for her volunteerism and steadfast dedication to her community, who successfully ran Cowles Berry Farm, and who helped shape the Down To Earth Women Luncheon as co-founder and the first board co-chair, died Sept. 22 of natural...

About 40,000 Santa Cruz County residents who depend on Medi-Cal—more than half of the 78,000 people with that coverage—could lose it after the passage of H.R. 1—President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). That was the message Tuesday from Santa Cruz County Human Services...

The annual Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour, which showcases dozens of artists around the county in their studios, is set to welcome the public starting Oct. 4. To prime the public with a wide range of what’s on deck, the Pajaro Valley Arts...

Encompass Community Services in Santa Cruz announced Wednesday that its Head Start and Early Head Start programs are facing an immediate funding crisis due to sudden federal policy changes.  Unless funds are restored, the organization said, Encompass will be forced to close 15 classrooms and...

After years of holding performances in their school’s wrestling room and in various spaces around campus, students at Pajaro Valley High School now have a new theater—albeit a temporary one—as they await future construction of a performing arts center. District officials—along with elected leaders from...

In about two years, UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College officials plan to open a student housing complex that is expected to revolutionize the way local students live and attend school, and how they pay for their living space. A group of educators, elected officials...

Every day, roughly 100,000 vehicles travel along Highway 1 through Santa Cruz County, a staggering number that is evidenced by daily rush-hour backups that can last for hours. That’s to say nothing of the often packed surface roads. That contributes to air pollution and global warming,...