Soquel water rates to rise
The Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors on Tuesday approved a five-year rate hike for its customers, which district officials say was created to help the district better maintain its aquifer supplies, fund ongoing operations and prevent saltwater intrusion caused by groundwater overdraft.
Digital NEST aids community during Covid-19 shutdowns
WATSONVILLE—It took all of 48 hours for Digital NEST to move all of its courses, business and employees to a state-of-the-art online platform.
Other local companies, institutions and businesses were not as prepared to be shoved into the work-from-home, online-only era caused by the Covid-19...
PVUSD facing declining enrollment, revenues
Pajaro Valley Unified School District has suffered declining enrollment for the past two decades, due to several factors such as increasing cost of living, as well as housing and rental costs that make Santa Cruz County among the most expensive places to live in...
Annual CAP report hits 25th year in Santa Cruz County
WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County has some work to do in the fight against obesity, discrimination and housing inequality. But it’s making steady progress in the diversity of its student body, teenage pregnancy rates and the number of incarcerated young people.
That’s according to the annual Santa...
Fire sparks from home's attic
A house fire on the corner of Lincoln Street and Palm Avenue prompted response from multiple fire agencies Wednesday afternoon, a road closure and use of a nearby fire hydrant.
New Watsonville city manager meets community
WATSONVILLE—Dozens of City of Watsonville employees, Watsonville residents, community organizers, elected leaders and nonprofit chiefs cycled through the Community Room at the Civic Plaza to welcome new city manager Rene Mendez on Wednesday evening.
Mendez, who took over as the city’s chief executive on July...
Freedom Bakery celebrates a half-century
Watsonville’s Freedom Bakery—the oldest family-owned bakery in the Monterey Bay region—is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, marking five decades of providing the community with cakes and other desserts.
The bakery was founded in 1975 by Tony Liu, a Taiwanese immigrant who came to the...
Las restricciones de playa del Condado de Santa Cruz terminan
SANTA CRUZ—Diciendo que "la gente ya no estaba dispuesta a ser gobernada," Gail Newel, Oficial de Salud del Condado de Santa Cruz, dijo el Jueves que las restricciones diarias de playa del condado se eliminarán hoy.
Las playas del condado han estado prohibidas entre las...
Japanese culture on stage
Hundreds of people attended the 31st annual Japanese Cultural Fair at Mission Plaza in Santa Cruz Saturday.
Banda El Recodo returns to Watsonville | What’s going on?
Special events
Fungus Fair (Jan. 11-12)
Did you know that without fungus, we’d have no bread, cheese, beer or wine? Come to the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair to learn all there is to know about the fascinating world of mushrooms. The three-day event features hundreds of...
Santa Cruz, Monterey counties to test wireless emergency system Thursday
Officials in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties will conduct a test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system on Thursday, sending emergency messages to mobile...





















