Local News

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously appointed Justin Cummmings as this year’s board chair, and Felipe Hernandez as vice chair. While the chair role is largely ceremonial, the supervisor in that position leads the meetings and often serves as the spokesperson for the...

WATSONVILLE—The Covid-19 community testing site at Ramsay Park in Watsonville is now open to all residents of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. First opened to frontline healthcare workers, first responders and employees working in essential services and roles, the site will now test everyone, including...

WATSONVILLE—As the next major rainstorm rolls in, the City of Watsonville and local nonprofits are heading up a major effort to provide sandbags for local residents in flood-prone areas. Scores of city staff and volunteers from Community Bridges, the Community Action Board, the California Conservation...

WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday arrested a man after a brief chase on a stolen motorcycle that had swapped plates. Alejandro Villarreal, 33, was charged with evading police, receiving stolen property and drug possession. He also faces charges for driving while his license...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz woman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of using social media to sell vape products and alcohol to minors. Martha Espinoza, 41, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail, but was not in custody on Thursday morning, jail records showed. The Santa Cruz...

It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies within the Santa Cruz County community that many of the people who labor in the vast agricultural fields of the Pajaro Valley cannot afford the food they harvest. According to the County of Santa Cruz, one in...

APTOS—When Oscar Cisneros was a sophomore at Aptos High School he and his friends felt their school was not celebrating its large cultural diversity. “This is a diverse campus,” he said. “There are so many cultures that should be celebrated.” Together, they created the Migrant Student...

The year 2020 will go down as one of the most challenging in modern history. The pandemic affected everyone in one way or another; some of us lost loved ones, and everyone dealt with isolation and stress. Racial unrest tore through the country following the...

WATSONVILLE—Laura Segura has dedicated her career to combating domestic violence, and empowering victims to find within themselves the strength to end abusive relationships. Now, the executive director of Monarch Services is back from a 54-week hiatus, having tapped her own inner well of strength to...