Local News

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS—Seven days into the battle against the CZU August Lightning Complex fires, Cal Fire officials announced Saturday morning that they were able to get their first “jump” on the growing blaze in the Santa Cruz mountains. Although the fire overnight grew to 63,000...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 22 approved a plan to build an automobile dealership at a busy Mid-County intersection, a project that includes demolishing several existing buildings. The Nissan dealership on the 2.5-acre parcel on the corner of 41st Avenue...

CENTRAL COAST—With the start of winter 15 days away, the final remnants of fall have set the stage with a blast of cold wet weather, accompanied by several sessions of strong winds. David King, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said Watsonville...

Located on a busy thoroughfare between Aptos and Watsonville, Bamboo Giant Nursery and Gardens (BGNG) could easily be driven past without a second glance.  But the nursery, tucked into the side of a hill in a rural, forested section of Freedom Boulevard, is actually one...

CAPITOLA—Two employees who work at the Safeway grocery store on 41st Avenue in Capitola have tested positive for Covid-19, company spokeswoman Wendy Gutshall said. One employee has not worked since May 23, and the second since May 30, she said. “That store has been through multiple...

Monarch Services held its 40th anniversary celebration with a luncheon at Seascape Golf Club in Rio del Mar recently.

APTOS—Ten years ago, former President Barack Obama made a Presidential Proclamation deeming January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, intending to raise awareness and equip people with the tools to recognize and combat the problem. It was only 10 years prior to that, that...

By JAKE PIERCE, Good Times APTOS—The site of the old Seabreeze Tavern caught fire Sunday night after 9pm, and the blaze quickly grew out of control. Watsonville Fire Battalion Chief Corey Schaefer said units responded to a reported fire on the Esplanade in Aptos. When they...

Arturo Sejudo, 19, of Watsonville is shown with a robot that he and other students competed with in the Second Annual NASA Swarmathon at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Photo by Tarmo Hannula

Since Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Chona Killeen started her position ion July 1, she and her department have hired more than 100 new teachers. The Pajaro Valley Unified School District in early August was still looking for 22 teachers, a number that was shrinking as candidates came in for interviews less than a week before classes resumed, Killeen said. The number is down from about 200 vacancies four weeks ago, said interim Assistant Director of Secondary Education Terry Eastman.