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April 21, 2026

Count shows slight decline in county homeless

Santa Cruz County saw a slight decline in its numbers of homeless people after the biennial count conducted in January.

Watsonville’s ambitious plan aims to address changing climate

Watsonville Climate action
WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville has taken its biggest step yet in making a commitment to address climate change locally. On Oct. 26, the City Council unanimously approved the 2030 Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP), aiming to make policy changes in order to cut emissions,...

Hundreds relocated from unpermitted housing in Royal Oaks

A property owner in Monterey County is facing dozens of citations and nearly $60,000 in fines after more than 200 people were found living in several unsafe “greenhouse-like” structures. Officials discovered several greenhouses on the 1100 block of San Miguel Canyon Road in Royal Oaks...

Santa Cruz County moves to red tier

Watsonville coronavirus
Santa Cruz County is moving to the red tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan starting Wednesday, as predicted last week.  That means several indoor business operations can reopen starting Wednesday, including indoor dining, aquariums, museums, dance studios, gyms and movie theaters, all of which have...

Sex crimes suspect pleads not guilty

Travis Hernandez, 24, also denied special allegations that he had more than one victim. He is facing 45 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges.

Jail reports second inmate death in a week

SANTA CRUZ—A man was found dead in his cell at Santa Cruz County Main Jail Monday morning, marking the second death at the jail in less than a week. German Carrillo, 24, was in custody on murder, assault and gang charges, Jail records showed. Carrillo was...

PVUSD Sustainable Schools Advisory team launches

pvusd
Facing years of declining enrollment likely to take a multimillion-dollar bite out of its budget—coupled with federal education cuts and an impending recession—Pajaro Valley Unified School District has taken the first step toward possibly closing some schools. District officials this week announced the creation of...

Valley harvest continues | About Town

Tarmo Hannula Last week fellow reporter, Johanna Miller and I drove out along San Andreas Road to get a few photos and a feel of the current agricultural scene. The strawberry fields were abuzz with harvesters. From what I could see everyone was wearing a...

Watsonville City Council selects new city clerk

Irwin Ortiz watsonville
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council promoted longtime Assistant City Clerk Irwin Ortiz to the municipality’s top clerical position at Tuesday night’s meeting. Ortiz has been with the City of Watsonville since 2010. He started as an intern for the city manager’s office before moving into the...
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Public defenders plan April 23 protest over caseloads, funding gaps

Public defenders in Santa Cruz County will join colleagues across California and the nation April 23 in a coordinated protest highlighting what they describe...