News

Towering flames reach into the sky at Pacific Firewood & Lumber, 2536 Freedom Blvd., Friday as a huge pile of timber burns. Fire officials said the blaze was triggered by spontaneous combustion sometime during the night. Firefighters around 8:30am said they would be on...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—In early November 2021, Meals on Wheels’ (MOW) congregate meal sites reopened to older adults across Santa Cruz County for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Staff and volunteers from MOW, a program of umbrella organization Community Bridges, combined their...

Santa Cruz Police officers and firefighters on Tuesday responded to two deaths and one fire at the Gateway Camp, the sprawling amassment of makeshift tents, shanties and lean-tos at Highway 1 and River Street along the San Lorenzo River Levee.

The 17th annual Cultural Caliente! Dance Concert, which serves as a scholarship fundraiser, will feature a wealth of dances including hip-hop, folklorico, modern, cha cha, tango, on top of a mix of local dance groups. It runs Friday at the Mello Center, 250 East Beach St., at 7 p.m.

Aptos native Nikki Hiltz guaranteed their spot at the upcoming Summer Games following a record-setting performance at last weekend’s U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.   The 29-year old middle-distance runner won the women’s 1500-meters finals in 3 minutes, 55.33 seconds, setting both a personal-best and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to transition cases from the current public defender’s office to the newly minted Office of the Public Defender, which is slated to officially launch on July 1. The new office...

Watsonville City Manager Rene Mendez has been named as the new City Manager for the City of Salinas, just two years after starting his position. The Salinas City Council on March 19 approved his contract. He will begin on May 28 and receive a base salary...

Weekly events calendar for Sept. 7-13

A long-standing fence that has thrown off pedestrian traffic from a stretch of Beach Road in the Seacliff area of Santa Cruz County for decades has now been opened to the public.

After 133 people died in Santa Cruz County in 2023 after overdosing on Fentanyl, the Sheriff’s Office has launched a new way to address the problem, with a special focus on the people who deal the dangerous drug. The Fentanyl Crisis Response Team includes five...