News

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will become the first amusement park in California to reopen after Covid-19 restrictions shuttered them statewide earlier this year, Boardwalk spokesman Kris Reyes said. Rides such as the famous Giant Dipper, which have sat dormant for months, will once...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—This year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Toys For Tots will not be hosting public collection sites for toy donations for the first time in its history. Normally, the collection points at fire stations and businesses throughout the county are responsible for the...

Collin Travers (from right), Saul Valadez and Juan Trujillo of the Watsonville Police Department join Robert Strong as he carries the torch in the annual Law Enforcement Special Olympics Torch Run in Watsonville Wednesday. Since 1981 the Torch Run, a global movement, has served...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Record numbers of voters nationwide cast their ballots this year, all either hungering for change or hoping for status quo in what is possibly one of the most polarizing political climates in U.S. history. Locally, those numbers likely were a catalyst in driving...

The folks at the Fairgrounds Foundation have teamed up with the Agricultural History Project this year to create the first-ever Holiday Lights Drive-Thru. The colorful, light-infused event is offered as an alternative to Christmas celebrations during the pandemic, where visitors won't have to get...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—More than 116,000 of roughly 170,000 registered Santa Cruz County voters had already turned in their ballots by Tuesday afternoon, an “unprecedented” turnout for the coastal community according to County Clerk Gail Pellerin. “I've been doing this job since 1993 and I have...

A crew from Auto Care Towing of Watsonville hoists a 30-foot Aptos Blue pine tree into the Watsonville City Plaza Wednesday morning with an 80-ton rotator rig. The live tree came from Gilroy Gardens and, after holiday celebrations, will be planted in a local...

APTOS—A man that died Friday just past noon when his bicycle collided with two parked cars on the Esplanade at Rio Del Mar State Beach has been identified as Joshua Seinmore King, 48. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said King was riding westbound on...

SANTA CRUZ—As a crane hoisted four sections of a large mosaic-covered water dragon into place Sunday atop a colorful concrete gateway at an entryway to San Lorenzo Park, new life was pumped into a forgotten chapter of Santa Cruz history. Renamed the Chinatown Bridge by...

WATSONVILLE—Stephen Rider had a slight 53% lead over John Kegebein for the Division B seat of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency as of 9:50pm Tuesday. Rider works as Technology Implementation Regulatory Compliance Coordinator at his family’s company, H.A. Rider and Sons, a 72-year-old, Watsonville-based...