Local News

It was a year dominated by news of the Covid-19 pandemic, since the news began to roll in on March 12. The crisis has hit businesses, schools, neighborhoods and people everywhere in the world. There are few vestiges of life that have not yet...

MID-COUNTY—A plan to consolidate two Mid-County fire districts took a step forward Wednesday when nobody from the community registered a complaint. Efforts to consolidate Aptos-La Selva Fire Protection District and Central Fire Protection District began in 2019. Fire officials say the move will help departments...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Planning Commission at its Monday meeting will look over plans for a proposed mixed-use apartment complex in downtown. A project from local developers Bill and Neva Hansen, The Residence at 558 Main is a proposed four-story, 50-unit apartment building that, if approved, will...

A mass vaccination site with the capacity to administer 1,000 injections per day will open at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville next week, but it is unlikely that it will reach its capacity anytime soon because of a continuing shortage of Covid-19...

WATSONVILLE—Covid-19 vaccines are now available by appointment only for residents 75 years and older at the county’s new mass vaccination center at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Residents who are at 95019, 95076 and 95077 zip codes must register at https://mhealthsystem.com/santacruzfairgrounds to schedule an appointment....

A large section of Valencia School Road in Aptos slid down a hillside, taking a PG&E utility truck along with it just past midnight on Thursday. A 50-foot swath of asphalt road and earth gave way, making the road impassable. California Highway Patrol officer...

CENTRAL COAST—Recent heavy rains, ushered into the Central Coast from the Gulf of Alaska, have helped alleviate low water levels in an otherwise dry winter. Ryan Walbrun, meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said that since October Watsonville has taken in 9.7 inches...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Between 2014 and 2018, the number of 0-2-year-olds on Medi-Cal who visited the dentist in Santa Cruz County went up 238 percent, thanks to the advocacy of a local group focused on dental health. In addition, visits for 3-9-year-olds went up 31 percent...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Teachers throughout Santa Cruz County are getting their Covid-19 vaccines, a daunting task that is moving the needle a tiny bit closer for a plan to return students to the classroom. But with unpredictable vaccine supplies, thousands of educators and school employees still...

Martha’s Kitchen, a 40-year-old organization based in San Jose, has now expanded its free food distribution program to the Pajaro Valley. The nonprofit began in 1981 when Louise Benson, dubbed “The Mother Teresa of San Jose,” began making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give...