Local News

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s Downtown Specific Plan can officially move ahead. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) endowed the City of Watsonville with a $500,625 Sustainable Communities Planning Grant that will fund the majority of the project’s planning efforts over the next year and change. The City Council accepted...

APTOS—Nonprofit workers in Santa Cruz County are two times more likely than the general public to require the very social services they help provide. That’s according to a recent survey conducted by the Human Care Alliance (HCA), a coalition of nonprofit agencies from around the...

WATSONVILLE—It was 37 years ago that Larry Chin became a reserve firefighter with Watsonville Fire Department, inspired by television shows such as “Emergency!” and the glamor of the profession. He joined the department eight years later. On Wednesday morning, he signed off from his final...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police are again warning the public to be careful with their credit and debit cards after an investigator found two card skimmers at a gas pump. Credit card skimmers are often installed on gas pumps by criminals to steal account information. They can be...

Starting in 2020, consumers will have the power to find out what personal information companies are collecting on them, and to tell them to stop doing so, and to delete it. That’s thanks to the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which the American Bar...

WATSONVILLE—It was a homecoming celebration for the books: About 60 firefighters, police officers, professionals, retirees, friends and family assembled at Watsonville Municipal Airport Monday to welcome home one of their own. At 12:30 p.m. a private jet landed, swung down the tarmac and stopped at...

Special events Watsonville Young Eagles Rally (Jan. 4) Local pilots donate their time and planes to introduce kids to aviation and help them join the Experimental Aircraft Association (EEA) Young Eagles Program. All for free. Register for the January rally online at youngeaglesday.org. The pilots who...

The Federal Highway Administration recently agreed to reinstate time extensions allowing dozens of emergency winter storm road repair projects in the unincorporated parts of the county to move forward. This time extensions mean projects will remain eligible to receive federal emergency relief funds previously committed...

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A weekly column that celebrates local businesses — especially eateries, watering holes, coffee shops and the like. Tony Nuñez Food: The Farm House: Dino’s Stuffed Burger The Farm House restaurant has been open for some time now, but because our offices are downtown I have not had...