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Editor’s note: Evie Kinkead is a junior at Aptos High School. For years, monarch butterflies in California have been endangered.  This is influenced by harmful pesticides infiltrating milkweed, a critical plant in the butterfly's life cycle. This, in concert with rapid urbanization, has led to the...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA) will host a one-day conference on July 9 centered around the figure Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Attendees will explore the historic and cultural impact of the figure through readings, discussions and workshops. Speakers include Seattle University professor Jeanette Rodriguez, who will discuss...

WATSONVILLE—Second Harvest Food Bank has a new leader. The organization on Thursday announced that Erica Padilla-Chavez will take the helm as CEO in July after Willy Elliot-McCrea retires, and as the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary. In accepting the position, Padilla-Chavez will leave her post as...

Driscoll’s berry company on Tuesday announced Soren Bjorn as the company’s new CEO.  Bjorn previously served as president of Driscoll’s of the Americas. He will assume the role in January and oversee the company’s global day-to-day operations, the company announced in a press release. J. Miles Reiter,...

Linda Martin first person to hold position in decades.

SANTA CRUZ—The annual Guelaguetza Santa Cruz festival unfolded Sunday at Branciforte Small Schools, an outdoor event that celebrates the culture of Oaxaca, Mexico. Dazzling costumes and dance, a large orchestra—heavy in brass and woodwinds—food tents, arts and crafts of the region and plenty of sunshine...

SANTA CRUZ—A federal judge on Jan. 20 granted a preliminary injunction stopping the city of Santa Cruz from closing a homeless camp in San Lorenzo Park that has swelled to nearly 200 residents since people started moving there in July. The order, signed by Magistrate...

When Thelma Jimenez was a young girl growing up in Albuquerque, N.M, her family was suffering from homelessness.

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) on Friday announced it has named Michael Tree its new CEO/General Manager. Tree has nearly three decades of experience in the public transit industry and city management, most recently as Executive Director of the Livermore Amador Valley...