News

Since the housing market rebounded in 2013, median home prices and rents have risen exponentially at the state and local levels, outpacing wage increases and housing production by a wide margin. The state identified an annual housing need of 180,000 units between 2015 and 2025, yet California has produced less than half of that number each year.

WATSONVILLE—Veterans of Foreign Wars Freedom Post 1716, which was facing closure this month after the organization could not elect leadership, was given a last-minute reprieve Wednesday at a make-or-break meeting. The VFW, which was launched in 1929 to serve the local population of World War...

WATSONVILLE—Rachel Clark clearly remembers the day she was invited to join the United Presbyterian Church (UPC) of Watsonville more than 40 years ago. Clark had recently moved to the area and was searching for a place of worship. It was at a community picnic where...

The Santa Cruz County Fair wrapped up Sunday at the close of its five-day, 2025 season. “We had an excellent fair,” said Ron Haedicke, marketing director. “ It was a great run with no issues. Attendance was down 10 percent from last year, but we...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—After nearly three decades running the county’s elections department, Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin will retire at the end of the year. Pellerin made the announcement Thursday, a little more than a week after what many are calling the most significant election...

AROMAS—A 75-year-old Aptos man died Sept. 24 in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 129, or Riverside Road, at Rogge Lane near Aromas. Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Dean Peppas. Alyssa Gutierrez of the California Highway Patrol said Peppas...

I had to brake long enough to grab a photo of a giant reindeer mingling with other Christmas decor at a Rogers Avenue home in Watsonville. • Today is the first day of winter, the solstice. Among other things, on Tuesday the days start getting longer. • If...

WATSONVILLE—This Sunday the Tobera Project, a local initiative aiming to preserve and celebrate Watsonville’s Filipino history, will host a virtual film screening in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1930 Anti-Filipino Watsonville Race Riots. “A Dollar a Day, Ten Cents a Dance” is a portrait...

In 1909, employees of the recently-opened Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk gathered at its entrance to capture a moment that has been enjoyed by future generations.

Last March, film director Melissa Elizondo was about to board a plane from Mexico bound for the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) when she got a call from Executive Director Consuelo Alba. The festival had been canceled due to the pandemic, and international travel was...