Local News

WATSONVILLE—Though the Monterey Bay Birding Festival lost its wings last year and disbanded, birding enthusiasts—from amateurs to advanced—can still get expert advice thanks to birding classes offered at Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education. Headed up by Nanci Adams, the two-hour classes take up to 22 students...

Nearly three decades ago, the Queer Youth Leadership Awards (QYLA) was created to honor young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ+) whose advocacy and activism have made notable impacts on their communities. Created by the Queer Youth Task Force, the annual ceremony is...

“Big Trees,” an art exhibit assembled by the San Lorenzo Valley Museum, is now showing at the Santa Cruz County Building.

PAJARO VALLEY—Long-standing realtor Renee Mello was recently named Realtor of the Year for 2021 by the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors. A broker associate with Keller Williams, Mello, a third-generation Watsonville native, said she was stunned and “truly honored” to have been picked out...

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed across the globe every year in which families honor their deceased relatives with food, drink and various celebrations. For the past few years, the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) has organized a...

The leaning tower of Dallas? A demolition in Dallas on Sunday of a residential high-rise did not go according to plan. Following the typical dynamite blasts and huge puffs of smoke the old building simply leaned over a bit and stayed that...

WATSONVILLE—After a series of atmospheric river storms caused flooding that displaced hundreds from their homes, Second Harvest Food Bank saw an increased need, and put out a call for assistance. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints answered that call, bringing two large...

Monterey County Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers investigated a solo motorcycle crash on San Miguel Canyon Road near Lewis Road in Royal Oaks Sunday night after the driver reportedly fled from police.

A man was killed Friday morning when he was shot multiple times on the 800 block of McKenzie Avenue. According to Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, dispatchers received multiple 911 calls about gunshots being heard in the neighborhood at about 10am.    Officers responded and found a...

APTOS—As Santa Cruz County’s community college begins efforts to possibly rebrand itself with a new name—and reject the name of Spanish Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—two drastically different pictures of the man at the center of the debate have emerged. Cabrillo College began to explore a...