Local News

Construction work moves forward on the new athletic field at Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville. The $12,898,450 project, largely paid for with Measure L funds, is moving ahead despite coronavirus shutdowns and a chance of no students being on campus in the fall....

Editor’s note: This is the first 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.  By Hugh...

Grocery shopping is a different experience than what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Between long lines and being in close-quarters, navigating an indoor store can be a challenging and not altogether comfortable experience.  This is why many farmers markets across the Monterey Bay campaigned...

CENTRAL COAST—The Paycheck Protection Program helped save at least 17,000 agricultural jobs throughout the tri-county area, according to data released by the Small Business Administration on July 6. The program, a part of the more than $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES)...

CENTRAL COAST—The Central Coast Section, the local governing body for schools stretching from San Francisco along the coast to King City, this week unveiled its plans for the fall sports season and beyond.  The governing board on Tuesday announced in a press release that mid-December...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a plan to create a virtual academy for the 2020-21 school year. The PVUSD Virtual Academy will be formed as an alternative school with its own teachers, administration and curriculum. PVUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez...

Searching for joy in the ongoing pandemic calls for a certain focus amidst the cascade of negative numbers such as death tolls, cases and recoveries.  Such is the case for Watsonville artist Sefla Joseph, who has had to reinvent her studio art classes and take...

Wargin Wines’ Assistant Winemaker Brenton Jones says he is ready to shake up the wine industry. “When I look at the industry as a whole… it’s pretty set in its ways,” Jones says. “It gets stuck in a box—especially when you look at what breweries...

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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County is days away from being placed on the California Department of Public Health’s Monitoring List and facing further economic restrictions, County Health Officer Gail Newel said at Thursday morning’s press conference. With 531 active Covid-19 cases as of Thursday—and more...