News

Members of the Rotary Club of Freedom celebrate a new mural they sponsored next to Flodberg Park Tuesday. President Trina Coffman-Gomez (center) said artist Erika Rosendale (holding scissors) created the 100-foot mural that reflects the words, vibrant, freedom and playful. Rosendale has created numerous...

WATSONVILLE—The Young Farmers and Ranchers (YFR) will host the 14th annual Testicle Festival at Estrada Deer Camp in Watsonville on Aug. 27. The annual event is a fundraiser for YFR, a program of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. Guests are invited to enjoy live...

Today is Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day, is typically a day when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. The holiday has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia. The festival was largely created to celebrate the coming of spring. At the...

After the outbreak of COVID-19 prompted shelter-in-place orders last week, scores of performing arts venues and museums across Santa Cruz County have closed.  Staff and artists are now out of work, and locally-owned venues are currently figuring out their next step. Cabrillo College Box Office Specialist...

Robert Rivas was sworn in as the 71st Speaker of the California State Assembly during a special session Friday at the Capitol. “California is still the greatest state in the union,” Rivas, a Hollister Democrat who represents the 29th Assembly District, said. “But if we...

WATSONVILLE—Second Harvest Food Bank has a new leader. The organization on Thursday announced that Erica Padilla-Chavez will take the helm as CEO in July after Willy Elliot-McCrea retires, and as the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary. In accepting the position, Padilla-Chavez will leave her post as...

SANTA CRUZ—The California Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a 2018 law prohibiting anyone 14 or 15 years old from being tried as adults is constitutional. The ruling on Senate Bill 1391 means that Adrian “AJ” Gonzalez, who is accused of kidnapping, torturing, raping and...

The latest exhibit to come to the Cabrillo Gallery, “Findings: Excerpts from the Sabbatical Studies of Dawn Nakanishi & Rebecca Ramos,” officially opened Jan. 29 and will run through March 2.

WATSONVILLE—A large crowd of nonprofit, city and county officials gathered Wednesday to break ground on a development on Freedom Boulevard that will house 53 low-income families. “I’m pleased we’re able to offer affordable housing here to fulfill Watsonville’s downtown specific plan, to provide a range...

The Redman-Hirahara house has sat on a 14-acre parcel on the outskirts of Watsonville since William Weeks built it in 1897 for farmer James Redman. Since then, the Queen Anne Victorian has become an iconic piece of Watsonville history, epitomizing the agricultural epicenter the region...