Local News

After the outbreak of COVID-19 prompted shelter-in-place orders last week, scores of performing arts venues and museums across Santa Cruz County have closed.  Staff and artists are now out of work, and locally-owned venues are currently figuring out their next step. Cabrillo College Box Office Specialist...

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has issued evacuation orders for hundreds of people in the north and south areas of the county after heavy rains fell overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning. Residents living near Holohan Road, Laken Drive and College Road in Watsonville...

APTOS—New Leaf Community Market in Aptos reopened Tuesday morning after a store-wide deep cleaning, spokeswoman Lindsay Gizdich said. The store closed on April 21 after seven employees tested positive for COVID-19. All employees currently working have been tested for the virus, and are cleared to work,...

On March 3, 1991 a young African American man by the name of Rodney King was caught after a high-speed police chase in Los Angeles. Police officers then pulled him from his car and beat him, while a man named George Holliday caught it all on film.

WATSONVILLE—After 18 years at the helm of the Lutheran Community Church of Watsonville, and 40 years total as an ordained minister, Rev. Susan Birkelo will soon retire. Born in Minnesota, Birkelo’s family moved to San Diego when she was still in kindergarten. After school, she...

SANTA CRUZ—A man suspected of robbing a jewelry store in downtown Santa Cruz was arrested Thursday after a tipster recognized him from security footage, Santa Cruz Police Lt. Arnold Vasquez said. Gregory Richard Burros, 34, was charged with burglary. He was booked into Santa Cruz...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—School district superintendents from 11 districts throughout Santa Cruz County will hold a town hall meeting Thursday to talk about bringing younger students back into the classroom. The discussion, led by Dr. Steven McGee of Dignity Health and Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz of Dominican...

WATSONVILLE—On March 30, the Watsonville Municipal Airport (KWVI) announced it had renewed a two-year lease with Watsonville-based Urban Organics, aiming to bring fresh produce to the community as the sole organic farm within city limits. At the southernmost tip of airport property, just over the...

Hundreds gathered in Romo Park in Watsonville Monday for the annual Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (MBCLC) Labor Day Picnic, an event that draws workers and politicians from across the county.

For 20 years, stock car racers in the area have been coming together to honor Mike Cecil, who lost his life to cancer in September 1997.