News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley, a nonprofit aiming to bring music education and performance to students, has been selected as a finalist for a prestigious national award. The Lewis Prize for Music announced 10 finalists for its fourth annual Accelerator Awards last week....

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—After more than a year of meetings held remotely under Covid-19 restrictions, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees plans to resume in-person meetings on June 9, the district confirmed. “We recognize that public meetings are a vital part of representative...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Chief Business Officer Jenny Im has submitted her resignation letter to the district, Superintendent Heather Contreras confirmed Saturday. Im’s resignation comes after several contentious public meetings during which the board directly questioned the district’s financial management. Reached by text, Im declined...

WATSONVILLE—In a special meeting as unpredictable as it was tense, Watsonville City Council could not come to a consensus on a deal that would have made a minor alteration to a critical ballot measure for the Nov. 8 election. The elected leaders on Thursday neither...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Probation Department is in the final stages of securing state funding for a major upgrade to the Juvenile Hall, a project county officials say will help better secure the facility, give youth offenders recreational activities and offer job skills...

At 63 years, the Santa Cruz Follies is the longest-running organization that uses the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, said director Kris Wheeler.

Business at California Pajarosa Floral, one of Watsonville’s last remaining large flower growers, has altered drastically since the outbreak of Covid-19 last year. Already dealing with an evolving industry before the pandemic due to growth in offshore production, things came to a sudden halt at...

BONNY DOON—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office confiscated an unusually large amount of cannabis and 16 rifles Tuesday at home in Bonny Doon. Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin said Sheriff’s Office personnel assigned to the Cannabis Licensing Office served a criminal search warrant at...

The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) on Dec. 19 announced a new rule that will provide notice to the public in advance of applications of certain hazardous and drift-prone agricultural pesticides.  The move was broadly welcomed in the farmworker communities of the San Joaquin Valley...

A dozen officers and cadets from Watsonville Police Department teamed up to run in the annual Northern California Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Thursday morning. Led by a pair of WPD motorcycles with lights flashing, the crew laced their way along Main Street...