Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A parking lot at Cabrillo College’s lower Aptos campus was abuzz with activity Thursday as Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County kicked off its 2021 Holiday Food & Fund Drive. Community and educational leaders, elected officials, business owners and more attended the...

WATSONVILLE—Construction is moving forward on a proposed dialysis clinic that would complement the nearby Watsonville Community Hospital. Being built by AGI General Contracting, the 11,424-square-foot outpatient ambulatory clinic is going up on a 1.15-acre lot at 58 Hanger Way and 5 Neilson St. directly adjacent...

Staff of Life natural food store opened its second location Tuesday, a little more than two years after announcing it would make the move to the East Lake Village Shopping Center in Watsonville. Dozens of local leaders showed to the ribbon cutting ceremony Monday,...

New murals that celebrate people with disabilities will be unveiled to the public Saturday at Ramsay Park. The murals will feature images of people with disabilities participating in athletic activities. The celebration comes as part of Disability Awareness Month. Shared Adventures, a nonprofit dedicated to making outdoor...

A Watsonville man arrested by Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Sept. 3 is suspected of using social media to contact a minor with the intent of sex. Luis Salas, 35, was charged with false imprisonment, human trafficking, kidnapping, contacting a minor with the intent...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the use of $500,000 in emergency rental assistance funds to help county renters facing eviction pay back rent. The funds—which come from the Planning and the Housing for Health departments and the...

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday will consider ways in which the bandstand in the center of Watsonville Plaza could be renovated, and what to do with the antique cannons. Built in 1906 by architect William Weeks, the bandstand is both a part of Watsonville's...

On Aug. 14, about 400 students will return to Pajaro Middle School, more than a year after flood waters forced the campus to close. This includes seventh-graders who spent their first middle school year at a different school. On Friday, several workers were continuing to...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Seventy-two members of the California National Guard got a warm thank you Sunday for their efforts with food distributions, staffing evacuation centers and more during the coronavirus pandemic and the CZU August Lighting Complex fires. On top of gift bags stuffed with Santa...

WATSONVILLE—Current positivity rates in Santa Cruz County’s low-income and disadvantaged communities are among the worst in the state and Bay Area region, according to data reported by the California Department of Public Health. The county’s so-called “Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate” was 22.7% on Wednesday...