Local News

To cap off a year of sesquicentennial festivities, Watsonville city officials filled a time capsule with present-day items Tuesday that will be opened in 25 years.

Updated Wednesday at 2pm with additional photos and information A freight train owned by Union Pacific pulling seven cars collided with an agricultural water tank truck east of Pajaro around 3:15pm Tuesday. According to North Monterey County Fire Div. Chief Rick Parker, the male driver of...

Artists invited to apply for Open Studios tour Arts Council Santa Cruz County is inviting visual artists of all mediums to apply for the 2023 Open Studios Art Tour.  Every year more than 300 artists participate in this self-guided tour that runs over the first three...

There are now 1,931 cases of Covid-19 in Santa Cruz County. The Bay Area has 91,246 cases while the state reports a total of 741,593 cases. Law enforcement put extra personnel to work over the Labor Day weekend in an effort to keep people...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) received $7.6 million to support its College Lake Project, which will supply a supplemental source of water for the Pajaro Valley. The grant was awarded May 4 through the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Sustainable Groundwater Management...

As costs for pet care continue to rise, the BirchBark Foundation is celebrating its sixth year, aiming to support owners who have pets with a life-threatening, catastrophic medical crisis and can’t afford the emergency medical care required.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Though some rural counties are allowing restaurants to open for dine-in service, Santa Cruz County officials are still several days away from giving their restaurateurs the green light. That’s according to county spokesman Jason Hoppin, who on Tuesday said testing and contact tracing...

Observations from around the Pajaro Valley.

Plaza decoration begins; tree lighting set for Nov. 24 WATSONVILLE—Downtown Watsonville was bustling with activity Tuesday morning as a 30-foot Blue Spruce arrived, carefully wrapped and attached to the back of a large tow truck. Workers from Auto Care Towing meticulously attached ropes and pulleys to...

SACRAMENTO—A contract with a San Jose diagnostics company will allow the state to increase its Covid-19 testing capacity up to an additional 150,000, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Aug. 24. Under the deal with Perkin Elmer, the state will be able to process up to an...