Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School site council committee is still onboard with a renovation project at Emmett M. Geiser Field, but now it will not have to decide whether or not to use Measure L funds to help pay for it. Instead, Pajaro Valley Unified School...

Kaiser Permanente is opening a Covid-19 vaccination hub Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz for eligible members and others in the community, the health care provider announced in a press release Wednesday. Dependent upon vaccine supply, the site is expected to operate seven...

Continued decreases in case and positivity rates have Santa Cruz County on track to enter a less restrictive tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan on March 31, County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said at Thursday’s weekly virtual press conference. According to data released...

APTOS—As Santa Cruz County’s community college begins efforts to possibly rebrand itself with a new name—and reject the name of Spanish Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—two drastically different pictures of the man at the center of the debate have emerged. Cabrillo College began to explore a...

WATSONVILLE—After more than seven decades in business, Yamashita Market—Santa Cruz County’s only store dedicated to Asian cooking supplies—is set to close its doors for good, likely sometime in July. The store’s owner Goro Yamashita says that business was steadily declining even before Covid-19 forced businesses...

The federal government is preparing to open two new industry-specific small-business relief programs, one of them months in the works, as its signature pandemic aid effort, the Paycheck Protection Program, nears its end. The Small Business Administration said it hopes to start taking applications by...

Watsonville City Attorney Alan Smith, who has held the position for 25 years, has announced his retirement and plans to work through December, City Manager Matt Huffaker confirmed Friday.

WATSONVILLE—If everything goes right, Independence Day will feature the first citywide in-person celebration in Watsonville since the start of the pandemic. That’s according to Watsonville Parks and Community Service Department Director Nick Calubaquib, who says that the city is planning to hold a “static” parade...

WATSONVILLE—Dozens attended Tuesday night’s Watsonville City Council meeting to rebuke reported complaints lodged to the City Manager’s office about mobile food vendors. This included about a half-dozen food truck operators gathered on one device that took turns grilling the City Council and staff holding the...

WATSONVILLE—In a gathering outside of the Civic Plaza in downtown Watsonville on May 28, mayor Jimmy Dutra and the city of Watsonville raised the rainbow Pride Flag in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month. Celebrated annually in June, Pride Month acknowledges the 1969 Stonewall Riots in...