Local News

This week, communities across the U.S. are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, a month dedicated to the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The origins of the observance began with President Lyndon Johnson, who...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Councilman Lowell Hurst is being criticized for taunting a community member during a Sept. 8 virtual meeting. Hurst in the video recording of the meeting could be seen patting himself on the back, mocking comments made by a Watsonville resident during public comment....

I looked through the window of the Watsonville High School cafeteria the other day to check on the huge renovation going on. A crew was there installing new floor tiles, a fraction of the overall job. It looked great. New modern lights, a high...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a set of detailed rules that outline how residents who lost their homes in the CZU August Lightning Complex fires can rebuild. Under the new rules, the county will add consultants and staff to...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County now has another tool to help survivors of sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) program, a team of nurses trained to recognize, document and collect evidence from patients, resumed operations at Dominican Hospital on Aug. 24 after a three-year...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division announced Wednesday morning the eighth death of a resident due to Covid-19. The resident, who died in their home, was a Hispanic male in his early 40s who lived in South County. While the individual had...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—With the presidential election day just two months away, Santa Cruz County elections officials are preparing to conduct an election beset by twin calamities—fires that have ravaged the county and displaced thousands and the Covid-19 pandemic. County Clerk Gail Pellerin says that two...

The other day I saw someone had dressed up the surfer statue on the westside of Santa Cruz as a firefighter. I imagine it's some form of acknowledgement of the hard work firefighters are doing in battling our wild land blazes. • Maybe desperation has hit...

WATSONVILLE—Keeping area streets and sidewalks tidy has become more of a chore since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.  An uptick in disposable rubber gloves and all types of masks dumped on the streets has been commonplace since early March. And they’re building up. These items,...

Smoke. Ugh! These awful fires have been going on since Aug. 16. Now they have a grip on California, Oregon and Washington — the entire west coast. From what I understand, most of the smoke drifting over the Central Coast is from the Creek...