News

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Planning Commission will review plans for two proposed cannabis dispensaries at its July 13 meeting. Bryce Berryessa of Berryessa Holdings, LLC, and Jason Sweatt of Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance, Inc. are both expected to present to the commission at its monthly virtual meeting. Berryessa...

WATSONVILLE—With the whir of a jigsaw in the background, the buzz of an electric kitchen mixer and the tapping of a hammer filling the air, Pajaro Valley’s young people were busy last week completing their projects at the Environmental Science Workshop on 2nd Street. The...

Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories on the race for Watsonville City Council seats in the Nov. 3 election. Kristal Salcido and Maria Orozco, who represent districts 4 and 3 respectively, are running uncontested and will be appointed in lieu of...

The Watsonville Woman’s Club began its year of monthly meetings Sept. 6 at its long-standing Brennan Street building that opened in 1917.

Santa Cruz County residents are being encouraged to apply for the next Civil Grand Jury, a volunteer watchdog panel that investigates local government operations and issues public reports aimed at improving transparency and accountability. The 2026–27 term begins July 1, with the Superior Court expected...

Around 300 people joined the peaceful “March Towards Love and Courage” Monday evening from the London Nelson Community Center to Santa Cruz City Hall as part of Juneteenth.  Juneteenth, which celebrates the emancipation of slaves in the United States, was designated a federal holiday in...

People in six counties around the Bay Area and Watsonville came out on July 3 to voice their disapproval of a federal plan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to build immigration detention facilities in Gilroy and Dublin.  A crowd of around 20 people...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As Thanksgiving edges closer, the folks at Corralitos Market & Sausage Co. and Freedom Meat Lockers say now is the time to get orders dialed in. “I’ve been at this since April, getting ready and dealing with supply, price changes and everything else,”...

Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., middle school students will take the stage for matinee performances of “The Lion King, Jr.” at Mount Madonna School’s Hawks’ Nest Theater, 445 Summit Road in Watsonville.

A 23-year-old man killed early Saturday morning in a head-on crash in Aptos has been identified as Luke Salem, a Harbor High School graduate who played football for Cabrillo College. The California Highway Patrol said a 49-year-old man was driving a red 2017 Honda CRV...