Local News

Homecoming festivities kicked off at Watsonville High on Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of students participated in the annual parade. The party continues this weekend when the Wildcat football team takes on visiting North Monterey County High in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division-North action Friday...

In June, an estimated 5 million people amassed in cities across the U.S. to protest President Donald Trump, and policies such as the administration’s hard-line immigration stance. The South County event was hosted by Indivisible Pajaro Valley, which is again staging the event on Saturday...

A new law authored by Sen. John Laird—and signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom—will bolster safety standards for new battery storage facilities and improve coordination with fire officials.  Senate Bill 283 was sponsored by the California Professional Firefighters and the California State Association...

A major water main replacement job has begun on West Beach Street as part of the ongoing citywide Water Main Replacement Program. Patrice Theriot, the city’s principal engineer, said work got underway on West Beach last week between Rodriuez and Main streets, leading to the...

Abandoned, wrecked, disabled and inoperable vehicles parked on public roadways in the county’s unincorporated areas have long bedeviled residents—who say they are eyesores—as well as law enforcement officials, who were reluctant to have them towed. That’s because county ordinance—which allowed towing of abandoned RVs and...

The annual Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour, which showcases dozens of artists around the county, is now into its second week. The tour spreads out around north county Oct. 11–12, north of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. Additionally, the public can see the work...

The County of Santa Cruz on Wednesday named Nicole Coburn as its new Chief Executive Officer, just over three-months after Carlos Palacios announced his retirement from the position. The Board of Supervisors unanimously chose Coburn after a nationwide search during which 139 candidates from across...

Pajaro Middle School got a major landscape overhaul Saturday during a four-hour community event, which included the planting of shade trees, native plants, edible gardens, a fruit tree orchard, and other environmental conservation features. The so-called Celebration of Trees project was staged by Watsonville Wetlands...

One week after announcing that funding woes could force local Head Start and early Head Start programs to close, Encompass Community Services—which oversees the programs—announced that they will remain open through Oct. 31. The announcement means that the 250 families that depend on the early...

More than half of pregnant women in Monterey County are exposed to pesticides believed to be harmful to their fetuses, and a quarter of the pesticide used in California is applied in Monterey County. Those statistics are part of a study released Sept. 30 by...