Local News

WATSONVILLE—As thousands of students throughout Pajaro Valley Unified School District bid farewell to their summer and prepare for a new year, educators and school employees are readying classrooms, sharpening pencils and honing their lesson plans. Such back-to-school preparations have always been a normal part of...

WATSONVILLE—The Young Farmers and Ranchers (YFR) will host the 14th annual Testicle Festival at Estrada Deer Camp in Watsonville on Aug. 27. The annual event is a fundraiser for YFR, a program of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. Guests are invited to enjoy live...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As votes continue to be added to the county’s election results, the outcomes of local races and measures has remained unchanged: four Supervisor candidates are headed to a November runoff, three measures passed with a wide margin while Measure F—a half-cent sales...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to use money from a recent successful lawsuit against the opioid industry to fund programs that will help people addicted to opioid-based drugs. In all, the county expects to receive $26 million over...

About 150 people gathered in Santa Cruz July 17, for a third meeting held over the past few months to send the message that proposed Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Watsonville, Aptos and Santa Cruz are not welcome. “These folks are pursuing these systems...

MONTEREY COUNTY—Two candidates are vying for the District 2 seat on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, an area that encompasses North Monterey County and parts of North Salinas, including the communities of Aromas, Castroville, Pajaro, Moss Landing, Prunedale, Royal Oaks, Las Lomas and...

An 86-year-old woman died as a result of a hit-and-run crash Saturday night in Soquel Village.

Xipetotec Galindo helps his daughter, Coral Gonzalez, 3, apply paint to a large outdoor mural on the walls of La Manzana on West Lake Avenue in Watsonville. Watsonville artist Yermo Aranda, who originally created the mural, has been working with community members in restoring the mural. The...

Pajaro Valley Pride will hold its “Empowering our Future Picnic Fundraiser” on Saturday.

Since the housing market rebounded in 2013, median home prices and rents have risen exponentially at the state and local levels, outpacing wage increases and housing production by a wide margin. The state identified an annual housing need of 180,000 units between 2015 and 2025, yet California has produced less than half of that number each year.