News

Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin, co-owners of Jacobs Farm del Cabo, have been named 2025 Farmer of the Year by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. The award is presented annually to farmer(s) who have contributed “beyond their normal farming duties to help the community.”...

WATSONVILLE—The average trick or treater consumes roughly 3 cups of sugar on Halloween, according to data collected by CouponFollow in 2013. That’s the equivalent of 220 sugar packets, and 16 times the daily recommendation of 25 grams suggested by the American Heart Association. Dientes Community...

This story has been updated with more photos from the Watsonville event. Thousands of people gathered at the Governmental Center in Santa Cruz and in City Plaza in Watsonville Saturday for No Kings Day. The first-of-its-kind event was held in 2,000 cities nationwide to protest President...

The first baby born in Santa Cruz County came 44 minutes into the New Year at Watsonville Community Hospital. At 12:44am Wednesday Magali Elias and Josué Reyes welcomed their first child, Ailany Galilea, to the world thanks to the folks at the Hospital’s Labor and...

WATSONVILLE—To say Watsonville City Councilman Francisco “Paco” Estrada had mixed feelings about the emergence of the four Covid-19 ‘clusters’ in Watsonville would be an understatement. The spike in cases was traced back to four separate family gatherings during Mother’s Day weekend, including one in which...

California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Tuesday introduced legislation intended to speed up the $400 million rebuild of the Pajaro River Levee.  Assembly Bill 876 would expedite the work by exempting certain aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The bill would also weigh...

Though they’ve reduced their square-footage from 23,000 to 3,000-square feet, owner Debbie Baker said a blend of longtime repeat customers, word of mouth and new clients continue to pay the bills and keep her showroom floor full of modern appliances and furniture.

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors retooled the county’s syringe exchange program during its Dec. 10 meeting, limiting the amount that people can trade for clean ones on behalf of other people.  This practice, known as secondary exchange, is believed by advocates to...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville solidified its Sister City affiliation with Velas, a historic port town on the western coast of São Jorge Island in Portugal, at its Tuesday night City Council meeting. Watsonville Mayor Ari Parker and Vasco Cordeiro, the President of the European Committee...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz METRO received a $20,560,417 federal grant on July 9 to help deal with the coronavirus crisis.  The money comes from the recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which directs the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  The funds target operating...