News

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council will consider appointing Rene Mendez, the current chief executive for the city of Gonzales, as Watsonville’s new city manager during its Tuesday evening meeting.  Mendez has three decades of experience in state, county and city government and has spent the last...

More Watsonville voters have elected to extend the city’s urban growth boundaries for the next 18 years rather than head back to the drawing board and determine a new growth plan, according to initial election results released Tuesday night. As of 8:16pm, 1,788 votes had...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon issued new mandatory evacuation orders, including parts of South County, as well as several neighborhoods up Soquel-San Jose Road and Main Street required to leave. In Watsonville, the orders include Freedom Boulevard north of...

James Baker spent 30 years in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, working his way up from a teacher to superintendent. Now, readers can learn about his experience in a new book, “From the Desk Of: An Administrator’s Pursuit of Excellence & Equity in Pajaro Valley Unified School District,” penned by his granddaughter, Alexandra Baker.

PAJARO—Joining a worldwide effort to stave off the spread of COVID-19, Sister Rosa Dolores and a team of six volunteers have started a production line of masks at Casa de la Cultura in Pajaro. The group has made more than 100 masks and is working...

Santa Cruz made NBC’s Today show early Friday with ample video footage showing people enjoying Cowell’s Beach next to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Their news team was covering parts of the golden state and in particular, Santa Cruz County, after the beaches and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Cabrillo College has been awarded a five-year, $5 Million U.S. Department of Education Title III grant, meant for STEM programs at federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). To receive the HSI designation, at least a quarter of a college’s student body must be Hispanic....

SANTA CRUZ—A woman who stole a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office cruiser and then struck a deputy in an attempt to escape arrest three years ago was sentenced Friday to 16 years in state prison. Jessica May Lowe, 30, has been held without bail in...

Flodberg Park lies in the center of a neighborhood at the end of Alvarado Street, a tiny place with a grassy field, a blacktop, a play structure and tables for picnics. There is also a long, colorful mural along a fence abutting the park, as...