News

APTOS—Two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around, Twin Lakes Church Pastor Rene Schlaepfer and Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) CEO Willy Elliott McCrea were worried. The church’s annual food drive, which typically raises thousands of dollars for the food bank’s holiday, was falling short,...

WATSONVILLE—The Digital NEST during its first six years has seen impressive and steady growth in the number of young people that it serves and in the impact on the communities in which it is embedded. Now, the nonprofit youth workforce development center headquartered in Watsonville...

APTOS—Ever since the first shelter-in-place order went into effect in March, Cabrillo College’s art gallery has been working to adapt and keep afloat. This has meant moving all exhibits to virtual formats and focusing on social media outreach while continuing to support students. In early...

This is a complete list of 40 groups we’re raising money for in this year’s Santa Cruz Gives holiday giving campaign. Go to santacruzgives.org to donate to one or more of this year’s participants. BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY Organization Mission: We create and support...

WATSONVILLE—Yoni Espinoza says he was just 6 years old when his mother told him that they were going to go on a “long, long walk.” He says he had no idea the trek would be a three-day journey through excruciatingly hot days and numbingly cold...

Four Winds Growers, a fourth-generation, family-run business in Watsonville specializing in citrus trees, has seen major growth in sales since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Aaron Dillon, who runs the business with his siblings, says that the surge is likely due to people who...

WATSONVILLE—Oscar Soto has won the Trustee Area 3 seat on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, beating Amanda Hernandez by 51 votes, according to results from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, neither of which have been certified. Soto said he was cautiously...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced that starting Saturday all non-essential businesses, travel and gatherings will be subject to a month-long curfew. Counties in the “Widespread,” or purple, tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan, will have to close all non-essential businesses and cease all...

The 2020 U.S. Election saw a record turnout, with more Americans voting than in any election in more than a century. And with the high number of voters came plenty of landmark wins—including for LGBTQ candidates in all levels of government. LGBTQ representation in Congress...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—For years, the annual “Nutcracker, Clara's Dream” was a winter holiday staple put on by the Santa Cruz Ballet Theater. With their own take of Tchaivovsky’s ballet, that was typically staged at the Santa Cruz Civic, Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater and the...