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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—At least 4,000 Santa Cruz County residents have been infected with Covid-19 during the current winter surge sparked by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. That figure posted to the County Health Services Agency’s online dashboard, however, is likely vastly...

Editor’s note: This is the final entry in a series that will break down the California Propositions going to voters in the Nov. 3 election. To read the first entry click here, to read the second entry click here and to read the third...

WATSONVILLE—A week after Frida Kahlo’s birthday on July 6, Watsonville’s art community came together on July 16 for a festival to celebrate the artist’s life, work and legacy. “Frida Por Vida” Frida Kahlo Festival was organized by Arte del Corazon, an organization that has been...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The new year has brought with it larger-than-average absence rates as students throughout Santa Cruz County return to in-person instruction.  Since Jan. 6, there have been 1,387 positive Covid-19 cases out of roughly 16,000 teachers and students tested, a positivity rate of around...

WATSONVILLE—A man that tested positive for COVID-19 died Friday at Watsonville Community Hospital, Halsen Healthcare CEO Dan Brothman confirmed on Saturday morning. Brothman did not release any information about the victim.   Two sources, however, said the victim was not from Santa Cruz County. They were speaking...

SANTA CRUZ—Saying that “people were not willing to be governed anymore,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Thursday said the county’s daily beach restrictions will be removed starting Friday. Save for water sports, county beaches have been off-limits between 11am-5pm since late April....

WATSONVILLE—Many in this year’s Pajaro Valley High School graduating class had heard about the battle to construct the school’s new athletic fields since their days in elementary school. PVHS graduate Yuliana Urrutia says she remembers overhearing her cousins talking about the field while she was...

Note: reporter Todd Guild contributed to this report SALINAS—The pesticide Telone–also known as 1,3-D–is thought to be so dangerous that it is banned in 34 countries. And yet, despite having been disallowed in California from 1990-94, it is still used on crops, including on local...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday night meeting will take its first look at the proposed restructured budget for the 2020/21 fiscal year, which includes seven layoffs and the elimination of all sports programs. The council is also expected to make major changes to...

APTOS—Expecting a large crowd for a beach cleanup at Seacliff State Beach on Saturday, Save Our Shores printed 250 waivers for volunteers to sign before they got to work. While that may have been enough for a run-of-the-mill beach cleanup, this was no ordinary event....