Local News

A local group is calling on the nation’s largest berry grower to cease the use of pesticides on farm fields located near schools. The Campaign for Organic & Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) will hold a press conference and community gathering on May 21 to ask Driscoll’s...

WATSONVILLE—On Saturday the Watsonville Buddhist Temple will host a special benefit concert featuring Otonowa, a jazz-fusion ensemble led by world-renowned percussionist Akira Tana. In 2012 Otonowa, which translates to “sound circle,” began playing shows to raise money for survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Health officials are urging everyone 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine this year in order to avoid a “twindemic” of Covid-19 and influenza cases packing hospitals this winter. Santa Cruz County Deputy Health Officer David Ghilarducci says that getting a...

WATSONVILLE—As Santa Claus waved to the crowd of kids and parents running through the Watsonville City Plaza to meet him at Sunday’s tree lighting ceremony, the early day fire engine that carried him down Main Street and to the front of the city’s downtown...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As students prepare to return to school on Jan. 4, districts across the county are offering families a tool to test their children for Covid-19 before they return. While not required for return to class, the tests are “highly recommended,”  Soquel Union Elementary...

WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville will likely ask its residents to approve a half-cent sales tax increase in the November election that would raise the city’s sales tax to 9.75%—the most the municipality is allowed to tax its residents. The Watsonville City Council did not place...

WATSONVILLE—The organization formed earlier this year to operate and oversee Watsonville Community Hospital is nearing its July 1 deadline to raise enough to make the purchase, but is still $16 million short. If Pajaro Valley Healthcare District (PVHD) is unable to raise the funds, it...

WATSONVILLE—A disaster recovery center opened in downtown Watsonville on Friday to direct Pajaro flood victims to federal relief programs. The center, operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is open daily (except April 9) from 9am to 7pm at Old City Hall, 250 Main St....

WATSONVILLE—Organizers for the Santa Cruz County Fair say they are preparing for a complete in-person return of the annual event in September. Carnival rides, livestock shows, floriculture, arts and crafts, the Agricultural History Project, food booths, the pumpkin contest and the apple pie contest—they’re all...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved increases to the fees charged for new residential and commercial development within the district. The fees increased from $4.08 to $4.79 per square foot for residential construction and from 66 cents to 78...