Local News

CENTRAL COAST—Precautions around the coronavirus outbreak have forced officials to restack this year’s salmon season and close launch ramps in area harbors. California’s recreational ocean salmon fishing season will be delayed statewide through the end of the month, despite plans made earlier this year for...

Santa Cruz made NBC’s Today show early Friday with ample video footage showing people enjoying Cowell’s Beach next to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Their news team was covering parts of the golden state and in particular, Santa Cruz County, after the beaches and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—While scores of agencies and organizations, from food banks to senior centers, grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, area faith groups are also finding new ways to redirect their message.  Online services, thanks to live streaming, Zoom and live chats, are now taking...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Health officials across the globe have implemented shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, requiring most people to stay in their homes. But four weeks into Santa Cruz County’s shelter-in-place advisory, advocates of domestic violence victims say that the measures...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez had a grim prediction Wednesday night for the district’s Board of Trustees. The wide-ranging financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic–which economists say will likely cause a recession–will have serious impacts for the next school year, Rodriguez said.  “It’s...

WATSONVILLE—A warehouse in the heart of Watsonville’s industrial district sat mostly empty until about a month ago, when a local realtor converted it into a distribution center for coronavirus care packages. Dee Dee Vargas, along with Pajaro Valley Unified School District bus driver Barbie Gomez,...

WATSONVILLE—Facing declining revenues, Watsonville Community Hospital has laid off about 10 employees, a little more than 1 percent of its workforce, Halsen Healthcare CEO Dan Brothman confirmed Wednesday. Brothman said the move was in response to a decline in elective surgeries, and to emergency room...

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Tarmo Hannula I stopped by Coffeeville in the East Lake Village Shopping Center this morning and was relieved to see them running daily hours. Now they’re making clever use of their Dutch door, which enables them to offer walk-up window service. Their barista Aliyah Piñon...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Every spring, Cabrillo Gallery’s Student Exhibition highlights the work being done within the college’s art departments. Teachers and classmates choose who will be featured in the show, which is meant as a send-off at the end of the school year. But with the...