Local News

More than 50 years ago, clockmaker and shop owner Allison Rider discovered a new hobby: making chocolate candies for his friends, family and employees. Rider, a big chocolate lover, started creating treats loosely based on See's Candies flavors. He experimented with caramel and other soft-center...

Hundreds attended Wednesday’s memorial for Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, who was gunned down while on duty June 6 in Ben Lomond. A miles-long motorcade that started at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and threaded through the county began the day. Hundreds...

Terry Medina leads the live auction during Watsonville Rotary Club's International Night at the Portuguese Hall on Wednesday.

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Fire Department will soon take on a new firefighter/paramedic after he completed the 16-week training academy at Watsonville Fire Station No. 2 on Airport Boulevard on Dec. 2. Adrian Chairez, of Santa Cruz, and three other trainees were officially presented with their badges at...

I want to recommend a dinner spot: The Sea Harvest, just off Highway 1, in Moss Landing. My wife Sarah and I ate there Monday evening during a magnificent sunset. After wandering out onto the beach near the harbor breakwater to check out the...

WATSONVILLE—An art studio and performance center for Pajaro Valley Arts, or an Italian restaurant, boutique hotel and creative office space for the Pajaronian?  The Watsonville City Council is expected to decide the fate of the historic Porter Building during the closed session of its virtual...

Lakeside Organic Gardens owner Dick Peixoto will receive the seventh annual Grower of the Year award at the Organic Grower Summit, which runs Dec. 4–5 in Monterey. Organizers said Peixoto leads the largest family-owned and operated solely organic vegetable operation in the United States and...

The Watsonville area is set to get its first county park in decades. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of a 38.5-acre parcel on Whiting Road, an unused patch of low-lying woodland that sits between two agricultural fields,...