News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County is seeing a decline in its cannabis industry, with tax revenues falling far short of projections for the 2021-22 fiscal year. County officials say that current revenues of $1.68 million are lagging behind projections by more than $1 million, and...

The other day I saw someone had dressed up the surfer statue on the westside of Santa Cruz as a firefighter. I imagine it's some form of acknowledgement of the hard work firefighters are doing in battling our wild land blazes. • Maybe desperation has hit...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville man who was shot and killed Sunday afternoon in downtown was working to turn his life around, his mother said. On Wednesday, at a large makeshift altar at the site of where her son died, Roxanne Ortiz said Adrian Ayala, 19, was one...

Tarmo Hannula and Todd Guild contributed to this story Jerry Castro has lived in the same house on Cayetano Street in Pajaro all his life. His parents owned it before him, he then bought it off of them. His children and their children were also...

Every year, a group of Watsonville High School students takes a day away from classes for a glimpse at the possibilities their futures could hold.

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Pride (PVP) will hold its annual in-person march and celebration Sunday at the Watsonville YWCA, for the first time since 2019. PVP, an organization aiming to support South Santa Cruz County’s LGBTQ+ community, had been holding Pride events in Watsonville since 2016. Throughout...

WATSONVILLE—Work began over the weekend on a major restoration of a long-standing outdoor mural at the La Manzana center. Muralist Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda, who is the creative drive behind scores of murals around Santa Cruz County, Salinas and San Diego, said it was time to...

WATSONVILLE—Two new police officers will officially hit the streets this weekend in Watsonville to begin their 20-week field training phase.  Michaela Barnett and Juan Castillo wrapped up their in-house training on Jan. 3, and will now work in tandem with a field training officer for...

A Santa Cruz man was arrested Saturday night after allegedly injuring three pedestrians while driving drunk, California Highway Patrol officer Julieta Trenado said.