Local News

Santa Cruz County supervisors are set to make final decisions Wednesday on a proposed $1.3 billion county budget that would restore more than $1 million to the Public Defender's Office while cutting funding for local arts organizations, including a 50% reduction in county support...

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Monica Martinez has been selected as state Sen. John Laird’s 2026 Pride Month honoree and was recognized Tuesday at the California State Capitol during the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus's annual Pride Month celebration. Martinez, who represents Santa Cruz County’s Fifth District...

Juneteenth celebrations of Black liberation and freedom spread out around the country over the weekend, including Monterey, Seaside and Santa Cruz.  Now in its 35th year, the six-hour event in Santa Cruz started with a march from City Hall in downtown Santa Cruz and ended...

Santa Cruz County plans to support a lawsuit challenging a proposed federal immigration enforcement facility near Gilroy by joining an amicus curiae brief alongside Santa Clara County and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, county officials announced Thursday. The lawsuit seeks judicial review of a facility...

Thousands of people lined Pacific Avenue late Sunday morning, many dressed in rainbow colors and waving flags, as they watched the annual Pride Parade. Santa Cruz Pride is the largest LGBTQ+ event on the Central Coast and the third-oldest annual Pride festival in California. Marching in...

“Threads of Grief, Threads of Love” is the current show at Resource Center for Nonviolence made up of 36 handmade quilts that honor 722  infants killed in Gaza before their first birthday.  A community gathering was held May 29 to kick off the exhibit, spearheaded...

Updated Thursday June 4 at 6pm Across Santa Cruz County elections for state and federal representation Tuesday night, there are few surprises, and a few expected results. As of Thursday afternoon, incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta led the 19th Congressional District race with 58.5% of the vote....

If there is one place in Santa Cruz County where World Cup fever is expected to burn brightest, it may be Watsonville. “Soccer in Watsonville is extraordinarily unique,” Watsonville Parks and Recreation Director Jason Hall said during a countywide World Cup kickoff press conference on...

The long-running fight over access to the Rio Del Mar beachfront walkway took a turn in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on April 24, as a judge granted a temporary injunction in favor of the homeowners who brought the case led by Christopher Weseloh,...

Santa Cruz County supervisors on Tuesday approved a countywide policy outlining how County employees are to respond to federal immigration enforcement activity, while also receiving updates on local safeguards tied to immigration enforcement and surveillance technology. The new “Federal Immigration Enforcement Engagement and Oversight Policy”...