Local News

Marin Alsop grew up dreaming of being a conductor.  From a young age, she aspired to lead a group of talented classical musicians, performing for audiences and spreading her love of music—despite the fact there were very few women in such a position. Alsop is now...

Work is underway to bore a tunnel under Highway 1 in Watsonville, which is part of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake Water Supply pipeline project. The weeks-long tunnel job, just south of Riverside Drive, will not interrupt Highway 1 traffic flow, said...

Editor's note: an earlier version of this story contained the incorrect spelling for Steamer Lane. A woman died early Thursday morning after the car in which she was a passenger plunged off West Cliff Drive and landed upside down in the sea.  According to Santa Cruz...

ROYAL OAKS—Congressman Jimmy Panetta was on the Central Coast Thursday, touting two pandemic assistance programs he helped pass that will benefit agriculture workers and the industries that employ them. The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program will provide $650 million in grants to food...

A man was found dead Saturday afternoon at Ramsay Park. WPD said the man was found by a passerby in a row of shrubs along Main Street. He was identified as Shandon Spotswood, 52, said Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. A...

Thousands of people filled downtown Watsonville Saturday on day two of the three-day Strawberry Festival.  As the fog broke apart and blue sky took over, people were treated to live music, scads of strawberry-theme food and drinks, carnival rides, arts and crafts, an open-air beer...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Parks and Community Services is inviting the community to the Environmental Science Workshop’s (ESW) 25th-anniversary party, Wednesday from 4:30-6:30pm. Established in 1997 by the California Community Science Workshop in San Francisco, ESW offers free after school science lessons and programs to hundreds of local...

A Watsonville teen has far surpassed her goal of collecting books for young people, and on Friday gave the books away.

More than 200 tickets were sold for the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon held April 26 in the Heritage Hall at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. The annual event is coordinated by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and the educational organization, Agri-Culture.   At...