Local News

Hospice announces $50,000 grant Hospice of Santa Cruz County has received a $50,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefits Programs. The grant will help people living with serious illness get access to the resources they need. The funds will be used by Hospice of Santa...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a plan to purchase a fleet of electric busses, and build the infrastructure necessary to charge them. PVUSD Director of Transportation Katie Powell said the move comes thanks to an incentive program by...

WATSONVILLE—The half-cent sales tax that significantly boosted Watsonville’s public safety budget for seven years will return to voters next year. When it will appear on the ballot, however, is still up for debate. Watsonville’s City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an updated version of the public...

WATSONVILLE—The Parks and Recreation Commission on Monday recommended Watsonville City Council turn down a $200 processing fee for murals and other public art. The fee would be used to defray the cost of city staff preparing reports on proposed public art for presentation to the...

SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Monday said the man kidnapped from his Pleasure Point home on Oct. 1 was shot to death, and confirmed he was murdered. Tushar Atre, 50, was kidnapped from his upscale oceanfront home about 3 a.m.,...

APTOS – Cabrillo College announced Monday that it is one of 40 colleges and universities nationwide that was awarded a grant designed to help ease students into four-year universities. The $3 million, five-year U.S. Department of Education Title V - Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant will be for Cabrillo...

WATSONVILLE—A long-neglected garden at Rolling Hills Middle School was brought back to life Thursday thanks to the volunteer efforts of the Watsonville company K&D Landscaping.  Armed with a host of tools and dozens of starter plants, the crew tore into the hard-packed soil as part...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Councilwoman Rebecca Garcia recently awarded certificates to 10 senior citizens at the Watsonville Senior Center who graduated from the A Matter of Balance program.  The national program run by the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County RSVP is designed to reduce the fear...

PG&E creates power shutoff alert system Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has developed a new tool that allows anyone to receive notifications about Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, even if they are not PG&E customers or account holders.  Although PG&E customers already will receive...

WATSONVILLE — Beginning this month, babies born in Watsonville will have a small head start toward college. That’s thanks to Santa Cruz Community Ventures, which has launched Savings and Engagement for Education and Development Success, otherwise known as SEEDS. The program will launch with newborn babies from...