News

Martha’s Kitchen, a 40-year-old organization based in San Jose, has now expanded its free food distribution program to the Pajaro Valley. The nonprofit began in 1981 when Louise Benson, dubbed “The Mother Teresa of San Jose,” began making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY —Strawberries remain the county’s biggest crop, with an estimated value of $220,653,000 on approximately 2,578 planted acres. That’s according to the 2018 crop report released Thursday by Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo. The report showed an overall production value of more...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Student Trustee Daniel Esqueda filed a formal complaint against Trustee Oscar Soto on Oct. 25 for remarks the latter made at recent board meetings. The Uniform Complaint Procedure is in place in cases of “unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying...

WASHINGTON—El plan de estímulo económico de 1,9 billones de dólares del presidente Joe Biden tendría efectos de largo alcance en la sociedad ahora que el país trata de superar una pandemia que ha cobrado la vida de más de medio millón de personas en...

The California Highway Patrol investigates a solo-vehicle crash on Holohan Road Saturday. Sgt. Atty said the male driver of a Nissan Murano SUV was traveling south at an "unsafe speed" when he lost control around 2:50pm. The Watsonville man, in his early 20s, careened...

Special events Festival of Lights (Dec. 14) Bradley Elementary School and Corralitos Coffeehouse are bringing back the Festival of Lights to Corralitos from 4-8 p.m. at the Corralitos Padres Hall, 35 Browns Valley Road. More than 20 vendors will be selling their handmade items and goods. Come...

It was a moment of sheer luck that historian and author Derek R. Whaley, while doing research for his own book, discovered the work of the late Ronald G. Powell.  Whaley owns local publishing company Zayante Publishing and is the author of the Santa Cruz...

Watsonville Police maintain positions outside a home on Westwind Court near Pioneer Cemetery Wednesday.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The seventh annual Santa Cruz Gives holiday crowdfunding campaign raised more than $1 million for local nonprofit organizations in 2021. The milestone was reached after the campaign doubled in size, featuring 80 nonprofits on its online platform. Individual donors, matching funds, challenge gifts...

WATSONVILLE—For the past decade, Youth N.O.W. of Watsonville has aimed to provide students in the Pajaro Valley a safe, positive environment—long after the final school bell rings.  The nonprofit was the brainchild of Dave Grazian, who retired after more than 30 years with Granite Construction...