Local News

WATSONVILLE—In early December, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved next year’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), a 188-page list of projects the county hopes to complete or move forward on over the next five years. The $966 million plan includes upgrades to various...

Thousands of heritage trees have been cut down in the county since 2000, according to the Sierra Club of Santa Cruz County.

Updated Thursday June 4 at 6pm Across Santa Cruz County elections for state and federal representation Tuesday night, there are few surprises, and a few expected results. As of Thursday afternoon, incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta led the 19th Congressional District race with 58.5% of the vote....

The Soquel High School football team paraded onto their home field Wednesday, sandwiched between the school’s band percussion team and the varsity cheerleaders in a special proclamation ceremony after becoming the first football team in Santa Cruz County to win a California Interscholastic Federation...

WATSONVILLE—A long-awaited major street and sidewalk improvement project on a block of Lincoln Street that bisects Watsonville High School is moving forward. The state-funded Lincoln Street Safety Improvement Project will shorten crosswalks, make the sidewalks ADA compliant, and add a mid-block crosswalk, additional lighting, new...

Watsonville city on Tuesday reopened its landfill after a seven-year closure, unveiling two new areas that will give the city its own waste facility for about 75 years.  City officials hailed the opening of Cell 4—located at 730 San Andreas Road—as “a major milestone in...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors is slated to consider controversial zoning changes at four intersections along Highway 101, which could pave the way for future commercial development.

WATSONVILLE—A familiar face has stepped in as the new operator of Pinto Lake City Park. Jesus Madrigal, the president of the Watsonville Farmers Market, was recently named concessionaire for the city’s share of Pinto Lake. His company’s vision for the 78-acre park—70 of which are...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Watsonville Public Library, along with Hospice Santa Cruz County (HSCC), will be hosting a virtual book discussion on Zoom on Nov. 5 at 5:30pm. The event will be centered around author Katy Butler’s “The Art of Dying Well,” a nonfiction book published...

Santa Cruz County Public Health this week announced three additional deaths related to Covid-19. The three victims—a woman in her mid-60s who died on Sept. 3, another woman in her early 70s who died on Sept. 24 and a man in his early 90s who...