News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Education leaders across Santa Cruz County—and the rest of the state—are struggling to fill classroom teaching positions and find substitute teachers, a problem that has left some classes without educators and required administrators at some schools to occasionally take over classes. According to...

WATSONVILLE—The Covid-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for Santa Cruz County renters, property managers and landlords alike. With renters suddenly out of work and unable to pay most, or even the entirety of their rent, threats of evictions have been looming. For some landlords,...

WATSONVILLE—Large changes are unfolding at the Watsonville Senior Center at East Fifth Street after the City of Watsonville took over operations on Nov. 1. The City will pump $176,000 from its 2019-20 general fund into the Senior Center, and also hire an Older Adult Services...

WATSONVILLE—Highlighting the city’s housing woes and the environmental checks and balances at the county level, the Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved changes to plans for a large housing development on Ohlone Parkway. Hillcrest Estates, previously known as Sunshine Vista, will have slightly fewer homes—falling...

A Watsonville man died Tuesday night when he hit a utility pole after losing control of his vehicle.

WATSONVILLE—About four dozen people were on hand to celebrate the groundbreaking of an 80-unit affordable housing complex off Atkinson Lane on Nov. 18. In his opening remarks, MidPen Housing President and CEO Matt Franklin said that creating affordable housing communities like Pippin Orchards II is...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The light rain that fell all day Thursday was “just the very, very top-tip of the iceberg” of a storm system expected to dump several inches of rain through Friday, says National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian Garcia. “We still have a lot to...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville officials issued expanded evacuation warnings late Thursday night as floodwaters have shut down numerous streets in the city. The expanded evacuation warnings include E. Front and White streets south of Riverside Drive, and near the intersection of Green Valley and Holohan roads. The City of...

SOQUEL—Santa Cruz Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday arrested three people after they allegedly burglarized a house in Soquel. Elizabeth Chandler, Colby Jackson and Henry Hansen were charged with burglary, vandalism and resisting arrest. Only Jackson remained in custody Monday in lieu of $25,000 bail. According to the...

WATSONVILLE—Covid-19 restrictions are keeping many people at home, forcing thousands out of work and making day-to-day chores exponentially more difficult. Imagine, then, the added challenges facing families whose children are affected by cancer, says Lori Butterworth, founder and director of Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support...