Local News

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors at Friday’s emergency meeting voted unanimously to approve a Stage 2 variance application under the state’s so-called Resilience Roadmap which would allow local restaurants and barbershops/hair salons to begin expanded services. If approved by the state, the...

Conchita Gonzalez, owner of Conchita's Ice Cream in Plaza Vigil, said she was glad to reopen recently. Gonzalez, who has been open at the same spot for 22 years, said she cried for a week straight when she first had to close. "Now that...

WATSONVILLE—For the first time in Pajaro Valley Unified School District history, the stadiums, athletic fields and auditoriums that traditionally fill with cheers, tears and the nostalgic strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” will stay silent this graduation season, all to be replaced by the electronic...

WATSONVILLE—It took all of 48 hours for Digital NEST to move all of its courses, business and employees to a state-of-the-art online platform.  Other local companies, institutions and businesses were not as prepared to be shoved into the work-from-home, online-only era caused by the Covid-19...

WATSONVILLE—In November Uriel Mendoza of Watsonville will mark 21 years of being a bus driver for Santa Cruz METRO. When asked what he liked about his job, he plainly responded, “My job.”  His preferred bus route? “I like all of them,” he said. He said his customers are...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously approved nine new courses at five high schools that will bolster the district’s newly retooled Career Technical Education program. The new courses were created as extensions of the existing ones, with the penultimate...

APTOS—Cabrillo College held its first-ever virtual graduation on May 22, during which 1,641 students received degrees and certificates. The number of graduates was an 11 percent increase from the year before, said Cabrillo spokeswoman Kristin Fabos. This year, Cabrillo awarded 1,034 A.A. degrees and 541 A.S....

While the Pajaro Valley Arts gallery in Watsonville has remained shuttered during the ongoing shelter-in-place order, its staff and members continue to find ways to stay creative. This has included expanding the organization’s social media presence and moving its latest exhibit, “Campesinos: Workers Of the...

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...

Rapper and songwriter Kabwassa has released a new single entitled “In My Head.”  Born and raised in Watsonville, Kabwassa now lives in Los Angeles and has steadily gained a following in California. Much of his music features his hometown, and he often writes about issues...