News

WATSONVILLE—Staff of Life grocery store has for a half-century been a backbone of healthy eating and living in Santa Cruz County, selling organic food and natural products long before those concepts hit the mainstream. Founders Richard Josephson and Gary Bascou launched the business as a...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Housing Matters (HM), a local organization that aims to resolve homelessness, announced Feb. 24 that it is teaming up with the County of Santa Cruz to house 90 of the region’s most vulnerable residents. Housing Now is a new program that hopes to...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School community last year was shaken when a beloved three-decades old mural on the wall of the school’s cafeteria was painted over during a construction project. The move, directed by site administration and the district facilities department, outraged the artists involved in...

WATSONVILLE—When the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League was given the green light to allow the cross country season to proceed, most coaches and students figured they’d get to at least one or two meets, at the most.  Six weeks later and with no reported Covid-19...

Limited rides at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk reopened April 1 following state public health guidelines. Boardwalk rides have been closed since March 2020 due to Covid-19, although they operated for a brief time in November. Ride reservations, which have been selling out daily,...

ROYAL OAKS—Congressman Jimmy Panetta was on the Central Coast Thursday, touting two pandemic assistance programs he helped pass that will benefit agriculture workers and the industries that employ them. The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program will provide $650 million in grants to food...

WATSONVILLE—A Marina man was killed in a head-on collision on Riverside Drive at Harvest Drive Monday morning. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Ivey said that the drivers of a dump truck and a red Toyota Tacoma pickup engaged in some form of road rage dispute...

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, tree farms across the nation are thrust into the spotlight and sellers start their busiest time of year. This year, the industry is holding steady, despite a nationwide shortage that is pushing up prices. Heatwaves and fires that...

WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville police officer who began his career with the agency as a cadet three decades ago has become the department’s newest police chief. Jorge Zamora was chosen after an extensive national search. “Through the process, Jorge demonstrated his in-depth knowledge and understanding of our community...

APTOS—The family of the 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on the Aptos High School campus in August has filed a claim against Pajaro Valley Unified School District, alleging that the district was negligent in ending the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, and...