Local News

In the middle of more than an hour of public comment Wednesday during the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, Gabriel Barraza—a frequent critic of the district—gave a quote he said is well known in public administration. “Show me your budget, and...

The Watsonville Planning Commission approved a drive-thru Starbucks in the Watsonville Square Shopping Center Tuesday, one of two such coffee shops in the works for the city.

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police are warning the public to be on the lookout for holiday package thieves, and are suggesting a few simple safeguards to stop theft. The issue came to the forefront this holiday season when a resident recorded a daylight burglary from her Watsonville residence...

A crew from American Pavement Systems applies a slurry seal to the pedestrian/bike trail on the Salsipuedes Creek levee. Rusty Barker, civil engineer of Santa Cruz County Public Works, said the work started Monday and wrapped up Wednesday and included a new slurry seal...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Tuesday declared a local emergency in the wake of the atmospheric river winter storm on Dec. 30 and 31 that ravaged roads and infrastructure and caused widespread flooding. The Board of Supervisors will consider the declaration during their...

APTOS—Beth McCullough and her son Journey Legen came to the emergency shelter at Cabrillo College in Aptos on Thursday night when the shelter in which they were hoping to stay in Santa Cruz filled up. Originally from Bakersfield, both are homeless. They were among 10...

Last night I went by Jack’s Burgers in downtown Santa Cruz to grab a bag of take-out burgers and fries. In the line in front of me was a tall fellow fully decked out in a Christmas suit, like nothing I’ve come close to...

A cleanup at Watsonville’s Palm Beach was held Thursday morning in an effort to dispose of waste from the Fourth of July holiday.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at the tail end of its Tuesday night meeting approved plans to reconvene today to discuss a resolution in support of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) business plan for construction and operation of a passenger rail line...

About 150 people plunged into the Pacific Saturday at Cowell’s Beach for the third annual Liberation Paddle Out celebration of Juneteenth. With the aid of around two dozen experienced surfers and other supporters, the crowd fitted themselves with wetsuits, took in a brief surf lesson...