76 F
Aptos
October 25, 2024

County Fairgrounds sets up shelter for fire evacuees

CZU August Lightning Complex Fire
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...

New housing program helps farmworkers during Covid-19 pandemic

housing for the harvest
WATSONVILLE—Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 24 revealed a new temporary housing program that aims to help agricultural workers across the state better protect themselves and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic. Housing for the Harvest will offer temporary hotel housing to workers who need to...

Local high school sports pushed to December

High school sports
CENTRAL COAST—The Central Coast Section, the local governing body for schools stretching from San Francisco along the coast to King City, this week unveiled its plans for the fall sports season and beyond.  The governing board on Tuesday announced in a press release that mid-December...

County faces economic restrictions as it inches toward state’s watchlist

Watsonville coronavirus
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County is days away from being placed on the California Department of Public Health’s Monitoring List and facing further economic restrictions, County Health Officer Gail Newel said at Thursday morning’s press conference. With 511 active Covid-19 cases as of Thursday—and more...

PVUSD eliminates School Resource Officer program

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to permanently end its School Resource Officer program at Watsonville, Pajaro Valley and Aptos high schools, and to redirect the funds to socio-emotional counselors. The district will also look into creating wellness centers...

PVUSD eliminates School Resource Officer program

Watsonville SRO
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to permanently end its School Resource Officer program at Watsonville, Pajaro Valley and Aptos high schools, and to redirect the funds to socio-emotional counselors. The district will also look into creating wellness centers...

UC system admits record number of Latinx students

UC Santa Cruz
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School graduate Kayla Cabrera will be attending virtual classes at UC Berkeley when the fall semester begins on Oct. 1, where she will double major in legal and ethnic studies for a pre-law track. Inspired by social justice issues she encountered while growing...

Officers searching for man possibly armed with handgun

WATSONVILLE—Officers from various law enforcement agencies are asking the public to avoid the 2700 block of Freedom Boulevard as they search for a man that is possibly armed with a handgun. The suspect was chased by officers to the rural area on Watsonville's outskirts before...

Second Harvest food distributions to run through August

Second Harvest Food Bank
SANTA CRUZ—Second Harvest Food Bank hosted a drive-thru community food distribution Friday at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Supported by numerous volunteers and members of the California National Guard, the distribution unfolded under overcast skies as part of ongoing county-wide distributions that alternate between the...

Firefighters battling blaze at Monterey Bay Academy near Watsonville

cal fire
LA SELVA BEACH—Firefighters on Saturday night were battling a blaze on the Monterey Bay Academy campus on the outskirts of Watsonville. https://twitter.com/CALFIRECZU/status/1284721308358422530 The fire started around 10:30pm, according to Cal Fire, and was confined to an old movie theater on the private school's campus on 700...