News

APTOS—Cynthia Jimenez-Gutierrez says she found inspiration to become a financial planner by helping her immigrant parents with their fiscal issues. After her education, she hopes to make a life in her community helping other immigrant families. “I like to work with money,” she said. “I thought,...

WATSONVILLE—Nearly every business, school and agency in Santa Cruz County has been affected by the outbreak of Covid-19—but perhaps the hardest hit have been nonprofit organizations. With stay-at-home orders still mostly in place, nonprofits cannot hold fundraisers. And as much of their government funding and...

California Highway Patrol officers stationed at three locations in mid-county Wednesday wrote out 34 citations to motorists who did not stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Tarmo Hannula contributed to this story. Over the decades, California lawmakers, district attorneys, county agricultural commissioners and others tasked with protecting residents have neglected to do so for farmworkers and their families, who are disproportionately affected by dangerous agricultural chemicals. This amounts to years of civil...

Observations from around the Pajaro Valley.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Latino Role Models conference will return for its 11th year—in a virtual format—Saturday from 9:30am-1pm. The free event was founded and is still organized by Senderos, a nonprofit that aims to create successful pathways for the Latinx community of Santa Cruz...

Members of VFW Post 1716 get help from Watsonville Fire Department Thursday in replacing two flags that once flew above the VFW building on Freedom Boulevard. Thieves recently stole the American flag and a POW/MIA flag along with the rope. Veteran Bob Erbe (center,...

WATSONVILLE—California Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) has announced the launch of a new business center in Watsonville for women entrepreneurs. El Pájaro Women’s Business Center (WBC) will be formed through El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (CDC), a local nonprofit organization aiming to promote equal access...

Female-dominated cast puts fresh twist on classic story WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School drama instructor David Scott believes that author S.E. Hinton would appreciate his stage adaptation of her 1967 novel, “The Outsiders.” Under the suggestion of her publisher, Susan Eloise Hinton had used her first and middle...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday virtual meeting approved utility rate increases that will raise a typical single-family household’s bill by about $40 per month by 2026. The increases were recommended through a rate study conducted by consultant Raftelis Financial Inc. that said they...