Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 24 approved a series of bonuses and supplemental payments aimed at retaining teachers and school employees. Every teacher, school worker and administrator employed since April 1—and who plans to stay with the district through...

SANTA CRUZ — Rachel Kippen will take over the helm of O’Neill Sea Odyssey in March when founding director Dan Haifley retires, the organization announced Tuesday.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Thousands of people throughout Santa Cruz County could lose power this weekend if Pacific Gas and Electric Company conducts a Public Safety Power Shutoff in advance of predicted hot, windy weather. Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin said that 45,000 people could...

Additional reporting by Todd Guild SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—With the onset of warmer, sunny days, droves of people have been showing up at area beaches and parks, especially on weekends, even as the shelter-in-place order has hit day 41.  And beginning April 25, Santa Cruz County also...

SACRAMENTO—Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation Thursday declaring Feb. 19, 2020, as A Day of Remembrance: Japanese American Evacuation in the State of California. Starting in 1942 roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and held at 10 “internment camps” during World War II over...

SAN FRANCISCO—The Ben Lomond man accused of killing two law enforcement officials—and trying to kill two others—in Santa Cruz County and the City of Oakland, made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday. Steven Carrillo did not enter a plea during the short hearing in...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to expand the county’s Focused Intervention Team (FIT), which pairs law enforcement officials with behavioral health specialists and other supportive services to address high-frequency criminal offenders. The program launched on Jan....

SANTA CRUZ—A graduate teaching assistant who worked at UC Santa Cruz until she was fired on Friday says that a protest for higher wages has grown since it started in December to include several more UC schools. Brenda Arjona, who is in her third-year seeking...

RIO DEL MAR—A fire that apparently started in a pile of rubble in an alleyway behind the SeaBreeze Tavern late Sunday night has destroyed the building, bringing to a close a story that began when it was built 92 years ago in what was...

SISKIYOU COUNTY—The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday arrested a man in connection with the shooting death of a former Santa Cruz County man. Timothy Chase McDonald, 22, of Yreka was arrested for murder and was booked at the Siskiyou County Jail in Yreka. He...