Local News

Founded in 2013, the Birchbark Foundation grew out of what local veterinarian Dr. Merrianne Burtch saw as an unmet need in the community.  Burtch noticed that pet owners were facing fixable yet unaffordable crises with their animals, which often resulted in the only option being...

Editor’s note: This is the first entry in a series that will break down the California Propositions going to voters in the Nov. 3 election.  California voters will make a decision on 12 propositions in the upcoming election. The initiatives cover various issues, including the...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials have replaced Watsonville High Principal Clara Fernandez, three years after she took the helm of the school. In her place, Chrissy MacLean will step in as interim principal, says interim Superintendent Murry Schekman. “MacLean was a teacher and Assistant Principal...

APTOS—A Soquel man died in a solo-vehicle crash early Saturday morning, California Highway Patrol officer Alyssa Gutierrez said. Just before 1am Carlos Deleon, 42, was traveling west on Soquel Drive in a 2005 Pontiac G6. For unknown reasons, Deleon lost control and smashed into a...

WATSONVILLE—A man who tried to burglarize a Watsonville residence Wednesday is in custody after a woman living there fought him off and held him there with the help of her teen children, Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said in a press release. Salvador Leonor, 48,...

After recently wrapping up a major housing and retail project downtown, a local developer has plans to build a similar project just a block away.

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to extend the emergency declarations that came in the wake of the CZU August Lightning Complex fires. The County first proclaimed a local emergency related to the fires on Aug. 19...

Tarmo Hannula Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and Beach Boardwalk While the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Municipal Wharf are mainstays of summer fun and typically mobbed with tourists and locals during the hot months, I'm drawn to them with equal fervor when storms come through....

WATSONVILLE—Kaiden Gowen is just 8 years old, but he already has a three-year racing career under his belt, and a handful of local and state championship wins to show for it. He competes in quarter midget racing, which uses vehicles that are one-quarter the size...