Local News

Editor’s note: This is the third entry of a weekly four-part series about the Pajaro Valley’s Japanese community. The series will culminate on Aug. 14, coinciding with this year’s celebration of the Obon Festival, a cultural and religious Japanese event honoring one’s ancestors. Read...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A partnership between UC Santa Cruz and the County of Santa Cruz—and funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act—will allow the county to expand its Covid-19 testing capacity to as many as 800 tests per day, county spokesman Jason...

Do you have a recent photo you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to [email protected] or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as the name...

WATSONVILLE—The simultaneous ringing of bells in sister cities across the United States and Japan on Wednesday marked 75 years of peace since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple was part of an inaugural initiative of the newly created...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday responded to a call for an “individual in crisis,” and during a traffic stop on the 1200 block of Soquel Avenue discovered what appeared to be a pipe bomb in the person’s car, according to Sheriff’s...

SANTA CRUZ—A recent clash between a Santa Cruz restaurant owner and a mobile hot dog vendor has drawn countywide attention, forcing one restaurant to close its doors and prompting demonstrations that have drawn hundreds of supporters. According to Santa Cruz Police spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke, the...

WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville woman was arrested Wednesday for attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a 31-year-old woman multiple times Sunday night. Delilah Yasin, 41, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, jail records showed. After working the case for two days, investigators identified...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Amidst the ongoing health crisis, essential workers who do not own cars have remained reliant on public transportation and carpooling—two options that are both limited and not always safe. Bike Santa Cruz County (BSCC) hopes to alleviate that dependence. In June, the organization...

TARMO HANNULA I saw another large temporary chalk art drawing in front of the Main Branch of the Watsonville Public Library last week. The point of the artwork is to draw attention to the ongoing 2020 Census. Several such art installations have been created around...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Two Santa Cruz County residents died Tuesday due to complications from the novel Coronavirus, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel announced during a Wednesday press conference. The fatalities bring the county’s death toll to six. Newel said Covid-19 was the leading factor...