News

Special events Clam Chowder Cook-Off (Feb. 22-23) The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk welcomes the 39th annual Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Cook-Off. The popular fundraiser for Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department is a two-day event, with amateur chefs competing on Feb. 22 and professional chefs the...

Local photographer and documentarian Kirti Bassendine will present her latest exhibition, “Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California's South Coast Range,” from Aug. 17-27 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. The project showcases photography and short films of elders and culture-bearers from tribal nations,...

WATSONVILLE—More than 100 people gathered in front of the newly rebuilt McDonald’s restaurant on Freedom Boulevard Tuesday for a grand reopening celebration. The business, located at 1598 Freedom Blvd., replaces the one originally built in 1974, which had remained at the same location until demolition...

WATSONVILLE—When the city of Watsonville initiated several cost-saving measures as the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold in March 2020, the City Council froze four positions in the police department, and two in the fire department. None of these were filled positions, but the move...

WATSONVILLE—A proposed 80-unit affordable apartment complex between Atkinson Lane and Brewington Avenue received a unanimous recommendation for approval from the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission on Wednesday morning. In the works since 2013, the project is an extension of the 46-unit Pippin Orchards apartment complex...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Council at a special meeting on Tuesday evening directed staff to search for two companies that will spearhead the city’s efforts to find a new chief executive. One company will be in charge of finding a permanent replacement for outgoing city manager Matt...

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend tonight will host a tele-town hall from 6-7pm with guest Tom AmRhein to talk about the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. AmRhein, the former president of the Farm Bureau and the current chair of...

Residents in Santa Cruz County now enter the third week of the shelter-in-place order from health officials launched on March 16 in response to the COVID-19 spread. Now those officials are shifting the initial two-week plan to remain in place until at least May...

One major and two minor injuries were reported early Wednesday morning when this Chevy Malibu careened off of San Andreas Road in Watsonville. The California Highway Patrol said the female driver, with two young children, were aboard the Chevy while traveling south near the...