News

WATSONVILLE—Mary Hall was working the afternoon shift on Jan. 6 when Horchata strolled into the office. The cat was a frequent and beloved visitor of the residential facility in Watsonville, where there was always someone to give him food and love.  As Hall was combing...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Director Guy Preston on Thursday recommended that the agency not pursue a partnership with a company hoping to provide electric passenger rail service from Capitola to Santa Cruz, citing the cost of fixing tracks and other...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Council at a special meeting on Tuesday evening directed staff to search for two companies that will spearhead the city’s efforts to find a new chief executive. One company will be in charge of finding a permanent replacement for outgoing city manager Matt...

Community members will have the chance to weigh in on how supervisorial districts will be redrawn, a process that determines what districts will look like for the next 10 years.  Every 10 years, local and federal governments redraw their districts according to Census data. Ideally,...

Marie Massey has been drawing and painting since she could hold a pencil—as young as 4 years old in her grandmother’s garden. Since then she has been drawn to nature, wildlife and humanity in her artwork and has been painting professionally for 19 years.  Her...

WATSONVILLE—Scheduled clean-ups of the Pajaro River Levee have been postponed indefinitely after homeless advocates raised concerns about displacing people living there, according to Watsonville City Manager Matt Huffaker. Huffaker said a regularly scheduled clean-up of the levee was set for Tuesday and Wednesday. That was...

A crew from Auto Care Towing of Watsonville hoists a 30-foot Aptos Blue pine tree into the Watsonville City Plaza Wednesday morning with an 80-ton rotator rig. The live tree came from Gilroy Gardens and, after holiday celebrations, will be planted in a local...

Final touches are underway at the Olive Garden Italian Kitchen restaurant, the first such location for the chain business in Santa Cruz County.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a temporary ordinance prohibiting new cannabis cultivation licenses within 500 feet of residential structures. The moratorium stemmed from the supervisor’s Aug. 24 meeting, during which they discussed potential conflicts between residential parcels and...