Local News

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to allow customers in marijuana dispensaries to smoke onsite in so-called cannabis lounges. They also green-lighted a three-year pilot program to allow limited sales and consumption at marijuana farms. Both proposals brought no-votes from...

Watsonville Community Hospital and the Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD) announced Friday that the building–and the property that surrounds it–once again belongs to the community. The $40 million purchase of the 27-acre site from Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust was possible thanks to Measure N—the...

Cold rain showers managed to slip in the door before October wrapped up, with temperatures dropping and a dowsing shower early Thursday morning. Meteorologist Dial Hoang of the National Weather Service of Monterey said the colder, wet system moved into the region from the Pacific...

The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency celebrated its 40th anniversary Tuesday during a lively open house gathering. The casual affair, at the Civic Plaza Building’s Community Room, drew close to 100 people, from dignitaries in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, to farmers, various area boards,...

Lakeside Organic Gardens owner Dick Peixoto will receive the seventh annual Grower of the Year award at the Organic Grower Summit, which runs Dec. 4–5 in Monterey. Organizers said Peixoto leads the largest family-owned and operated solely organic vegetable operation in the United States and...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Student Trustee Daniel Esqueda filed a formal complaint against Trustee Oscar Soto on Oct. 25 for remarks the latter made at recent board meetings. The Uniform Complaint Procedure is in place in cases of “unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying...

It has been nearly two years since El Frijolito, one of Watsonville’s best known taquerias, closed its doors to allow the owners to remodel and expand. That project is now complete, and owner Sergio Carrera plans to reopen the renovated restaurant on Nov. 8. for...

The recreational dungeness crab season will open statewide beginning Nov. 2.  But the use of traps will be temporarily prohibited between the Sonoma/Mendocino County line and Lopez Point in Monterey County when the season opens due to presence of humpback whales and potential for entanglement...

WRAP UP Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez is part of a large crowd that showed up Saturday to celebrate the completion of the massive Watsonville Brillante mosaic mural project on the parking structure on Rodriguez and West Beach streets. Music, dancing, food trucks,...

Dozens of people came to Community Bridges’ downtown location Sunday, where they received a free eye exam  and, if needed, a pair of prescription glasses. This included an onsite mobile RV that made the glasses onsite. The exams—which organizers estimate at $400-$500—came thanks to VSP Vision,...