News

When the Santa Cruz Mountains caught fire in August after a lightning storm passed through the Central Coast and greater Bay Area, almost every community was forced to evacuate the area. Many of those evacuees were left wondering whether their homes and businesses—their life’s...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the state will provide temporary tax relief for eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Under the plan, taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax receive an automatic three-month income tax extension. It also...

APTOS—The performing arts sector has taken a major hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Large gatherings—especially those indoors—are discouraged in order to slow the spread of the virus, and as such theaters and other venues have been forced to remain closed. The Cabrillo College Theater...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Today is Giving Tuesday, a worldwide generosity movement aiming to raise funds for nonprofits and communities. Every Tuesday after Thanksgiving, organizations, small businesses, schools and corporations come together to celebrate the event. Giving Tuesday began in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—At least nine Santa Cruz County Jail correctional officers have tested positive for Covid-19, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced in a press release Monday. All nine are now off work, and six officers have been quarantined based on contact with infected...

SAN FRANCISCO—The family of an 8-year-old girl who was allegedly raped, tortured and murdered by a 15-year-old suspect is urging the California Supreme court to overturn a law that could allow him to walk free when he is 25. A.J. Gonzalez, now 21, is facing...

MONTEREY COUNTY—Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday arrested two brothers at a residence in the unincorporated area of Las Lomas after a woman was found dead. Miguel Casillas-Cervantes, 27, was booked into Monterey County Jail for child endangerment, and manslaughter in lieu of $55,000 bail,...

Musician Eric Schowacherg was out performing a string of popular Holiday tunes on his violin in downtown Santa Cruz, over the weekend. • A Watsonville man died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said, however, that the...

WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville man died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said the 33-year-old victim was driving a blue 1998 Volkswagen Beetle eastbound on Amesti Road east of Cypress Lane, at an unknown speed at 12:28am....

ROYAL OAKS—Last year, Church Christmas Tree Farms celebrated its 60th year. The family-owned business, now run by Glenn Church and his two sons, has become a local destination for families to come and cut down their own tree during the holidays. And the Covid-19 pandemic...