Local News

By Jake Pierce, Good Times News Editor Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced that California’s firefighting crews are now trying to suppress 560 fires, most of them stemming from dry lightning strikes that first began Aug. 16. Statewide, 771,000 acres—an area the size of Rhode Island—have burned...

One facet of the stay-at-home, and work-from-home coronavirus ordeal is an uptick in home gardening and landscaping. With extra time spent around the home, some folks are putting more time, and money, into the land that surrounds their homes. “They’re stuck at home more and...

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WATSONVILLE—A newly-hired Watsonville Police Officer was arrested Aug. 20 in an off-duty incident in South Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Tyler Leroy Stephens is accused of physically assaulting a man and vandalizing two slot machines.   The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said that Stephens called 911, saying he...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—With a continuing housing crisis on the horizon due to Covid-19, residents from nearly every background and region of the county are facing dire straits.  But perhaps the hardest hit have been farmworkers—many of whom were struggling long before the pandemic hit.  “ are...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Emergency Operations Center is requesting that all tourists and visitors occupying local overnight accommodations such as hotels, motels and vacation rentals leave immediately to free up shelter capacity. Local shelters are near capacity. The Emergency Operations Center is working...

UPDATE (5:16pm, Aug. 20) Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said the City of Scotts Valley is expected to be evacuated later Thursday evening. UPDATE (3:26pm, Aug. 20) The City of Scotts Valley west of Highway 17, including the downtown area, Paradise Park and the...

Note: Reporter Tony Nuñez contributed to this story WATSONVILLE—Thousands of Santa Cruz County residents living in the county’s northern reaches have been ordered to evacuate as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires have spread throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Temporary shelters have been set up across...

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final entry of a weekly series about the Pajaro Valley’s Japanese community. The series’ culmination coincides with this year’s celebration of the Obon Festival, a cultural and religious Japanese event honoring one’s ancestors. Read the first entry...

WATSONVILLE—The developer behind a 150-unit housing project off Ohlone Parkway is asking the Watsonville City Council for a one-year extension on the project’s approval. First approved by the council in 2018 as Sunshine Vista, Hillcrest Estates was set to transform an 11-acre junkyard at 511...