Local News

Three winners will each receive $1,500 to pay for post-secondary education expenses at any accredited college, university, trade/technical school, or career education program.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that prohibits so-called “discriminatory reports” to law enforcement, and allows victims to seek financial compensation when it happens to them. Discriminatory reporting was brought to public light in 2020, when...

WATSONVILLE—As lunchtime drew to a close Wednesday, fourth- and fifth-grade students at Starlight Elementary School began to gradually filter into the classroom of art teacher Meredith Branan Freeman. They were there to learn about stop-motion animation and create their own movies. Some students worked individually,...

WATSONVILLE—Graduation for Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 1,179 seniors this year will look drastically different than it has at any time in its history. That is because the school closures imposed April 1 by state education officials have required students to learn from home for...

SANTA CRUZ—The family of the 8-year-old girl who was murdered in 2015 is facing a new tragedy after someone stole the urn containing her ashes. Madyson “Maddy” Middleton’s family says that her father Michel Middleton was keeping the urn in the glovebox of his unlocked...

When news breaks, rest assured that 10-year-old kid reporter Ella Porter is on the story. Ella is one of 45 young journalists from 10 countries who were recently chosen to write for the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps.

Santa Cruz Police arrested a man early Tuesday morning after he allegedly set a fire inside a gymnasium, and then struggled with police who came to arrest him.

The Pacific Collegiate School (PCS) Board of Directors is looking for individuals interested in applying for board service. 

The World’s Shortest Parade in Aptos lived up to its standard of drawing thousands of people, from babies to seniors, to the street — many with their dogs in tow — for a view of the action. From Little League baseball teams and realty groups, to fire engines, elected officials and modern dance troupes, the parade sent 102 different groups along Soquel Drive under cloudy skies. With nine California Highway Patrol officers lending a hand in traffic control and in shutting down a short section of Soquel Drive, the festive event proved to have a greater showing of entries than any mid-week Fourth of July parade, said Karen Hibble, co-executive director of the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.

Santa Cruz’s Good Times weekly has purchased the 151-year-old Watsonville Register-Pajaronian and its companion publication Aptos Life from News Media Corp. of Rochelle, Illinois.