Local News

WATSONVILLE—Cal Fire on Tuesday night ordered more than 22,000 residents in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties to evacuate as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires began to spread throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Temporary shelters have been set up across the region to house...

Kids2Parks offers free educational field trips in local State Parks to select Title 1 elementary schools in Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Teachers apply online for the free field trips and will be informed by May 8 if their application was selected. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers affected by the recent Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) may qualify for reimbursements. Under its Safety Net program, PG&E pays customers that have gone without power for more than 48 hours due to severe weather events, according to...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously voted to delay a decision on how to resume classes in August, to give district officials time to investigate all of their options. Still undetermined is which risk level the district will use...

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested five people suspected of looting evacuated homes on Fall Creek Drive, a small community in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Felton. Jose Gandarilla, Susana Luna, Crystal Araujo, Sara Loretz and Crystle Parstch-Lucchesi face numerous felony...

The City of Capitola has temporarily closed its wharf after high winter surf damaged two supportive piles on New Year’s Day. Engineers who inspected the damage—which occurred underneath the small boat hoist—installed a steel beam that spans the failed area on Saturday so the hoist...

WATSONVILLE—Governor Gavin Newsom on the final day of action for the 2019 legislative season signed Assembly Bill 1783, also known as the Farmworker Housing Act of 2019, which creates a streamlined process to build farmworker housing on agricultural land. The bill was authored by Assemblymember...

WATSONVILLE—Cabrillo College got its start six decades ago in several condemned buildings in an unused corner of Watsonville High School.  More than 800 freshmen began classes there on Sept. 1, 1959. The community college has since evolved into a mid-county educational centerpiece, serving more than 15,000...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Saying that she has not yet seen reliable data that a countywide masking mandate would alter personal behavior or lower Covid-19 cases, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said she does not plan to issue a new order any time...

Following the retirement announcement of long-time Executive Director David Vincent, Leadership Santa Cruz County has begun its search for a new executive director.