Local News

A 40-foot Sequoia tree rolled into downtown Watsonville Tuesday morning as ordered by the City of Watsonville as the centerpiece of its annual holiday celebrations. The tree was lifted off a flatbed truck and hoisted into place in the plaza with the aid of a...

Tarmo Hannula It’s the last day of January 2020. • I noticed a paint crew has started a major paint job on the historic home on the corner of East Beach and Lincoln streets. That’s the towering white place with tall majestic columns, almost identical to the...

It was a moment of sheer luck that historian and author Derek R. Whaley, while doing research for his own book, discovered the work of the late Ronald G. Powell.  Whaley owns local publishing company Zayante Publishing and is the author of the Santa Cruz...

Plans to build 624 units of affordable student housing on Cabrillo College’s Aptos campus got the green light Monday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to fund the project. The dual Senate and Assembly bills, both numbered 142, will provide $111 million for the...

Final touches are still being completed at the fairgrounds as the 136th Santa Cruz County Fair, Sept. 14-18, approaches. From temporary livestock pens, art exhibits, collections, colorful flowers and fresh paint, the fairgrounds is abuzz with activity. In the Fine Arts Building, Donna Giubbini, chair...

APTOS—The performing arts sector has taken a major hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Large gatherings—especially those indoors—are discouraged in order to slow the spread of the virus, and as such theaters and other venues have been forced to remain closed. The Cabrillo College Theater...

APTOS — If a plan by a newly formed group is successful, nearly three-dozen middle school girls from Pajaro Valley Unified School District will enter high school and college with bolstered self-confidence, self awareness and academic prowess.

WATSONVILLE—Paul De Worken left the Watsonville City Council Chambers sad and confused on Oct. 22. A few days later he was in a better mood, but his confusion did not fade. After the City Council approved a $200 fee for community initiated public art on...

The Cabrillo College Board of Trustees voted Monday to defer renaming the college until 2028.  The 6-1 decision, with Trustee Steve Trujillo dissenting, ends a three-year process to replace the name Cabrillo with one unassociated with colonization. The Name Exploration Subcommittee that wrote the recommendation—whose members...

APTOS—Second Harvest Food Bank well surpassed its goal of 4.5 million meals during its 2021 holiday drive. But when it came time to organize the 2022 effort, organizers floated the idea of lowering the goal, given the rising costs of groceries due to inflation,...