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Aptos
March 25, 2026

Second Harvest Food Bank facing financial strain

second harvest food bank
WATSONVILLE—Gov. Gavin Newsom announced increased funding for the Farm to Family Program on April 29. The program directly connects farmers and ranchers to food banks to feed Californians around the state. The state intends to seed a $15 million campaign with $3.64 million to...

Nonprofit veterans group receives grants

Vets 4 Vets, a Santa Cruz County nonprofit supporting local veterans, received two grants that will assist in providing services to veterans in need.

Shortest Parade honors long career

This year’s grand marshal is Aptos/La Selva Fire Captain, Greg Hansen, who has been with the department for more than three decades.

Artist raises $1,000 for Ukrainian children through Open Studios

APTOS—Local artist and Pajaro Valley Arts exhibit coordinator Hedwig Heerschop recently raised $1,000 during the Open Studios Art Tour for children in Ukraine. Heerschop, a fine art photographer and printmaker, raffled off one of her photograph etchings, depicting a blue and yellow sunflower. She sold...

UCSC fires 74 striking teaching assistants demanding higher wages

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...

County changes rules for vacation rentals

Santa Cruz County
SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved placing a moratorium on new vacation rentals countywide, along with several other rules meant to limit the growing industry. The trustees will consider on June 30 whether to extend the 45-day moratorium. Supervisor John...

Aptos High grads tried to make campus safe, diverse for future

Aptos High School grudation 2020
APTOS—When Oscar Cisneros was a sophomore at Aptos High School he and his friends felt their school was not celebrating its large cultural diversity. “This is a diverse campus,” he said. “There are so many cultures that should be celebrated.” Together, they created the Migrant Student...

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 cases see steady rise

Watsonville coronavirus
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County health officials identified 37 new Covid-19 cases—the county’s largest single-day jump since the virus started its spread—on Monday, increasing the number of new cases over the last eight days to 142. There are 216 active cases in the county, and...

Newsom issues statewide order as Santa Cruz County reports another COVID-19 case

CALIFORNIA—Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide “stay at home” order on Thursday evening, bringing California’s nearly 40 million residents in line with shelter-in-place orders recently issued by Santa Cruz and Monterey county officials. The directive goes into effect this evening, Newsom said at a press...

Santa Cruz County now has 13 COVID-19 cases

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency announced that there are now 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel announced the county’s first case on March 7. The increasing...