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Aptos
September 8, 2025

Begonia Festival calls it quits, for now

The final Capitola Begonia Festival wrapped up Monday with the traditional Fishing Derby on the Capitola Wharf. The event, which peaks with the Nautical Parade on Sunday, has been a huge draw for crowds of all ages for the last 65 years.

Ross Camp reopens

SANTA CRUZ—An unsanctioned homeless camp in Santa Cruz has reopened, this time with a new name, increased security and a set of rules designed to reduce crime and drug use. The so-called Ross Survival Camp at River Street and Highway 1 was opened on Monday...

Cabrillo plans return to in-person classes

cabrillo college
APTOS—Cabrillo College students will return to in-person instruction when classes resume in the fall, spokeswoman Kristin Fabos announced Tuesday. According to Fabos, more than 50% of course offerings feature face-to-face or hybrid instruction during the fall term, which begins Aug. 16. The college will continue...

Truck tears out power lines and pole

A utility truck is buried beneath power lines and a shattered utility pole after the driver lost control and plowed into the pole Monday May 14 on Mar Monte Avenue. Around 3:30 p.m. the driver was traveling west on Mar Monte Avenue when his vehicle shot off the road just west of Roback Drive. The California Highway Patrol shut down Mar Monte Avenue in the area. A Pacific Gas and Electric crew was summoned. The CHP said Mar Monte Avenue would remain closed well into the night to allow for repairs. The CHP is still investigating the cause of the crash.

Fire rages through Sonoma wine country

Twelve wildland fires are raging across California, some spurring mass evacuations and destroying multiple homes. In Sonoma County, 21,900 acres have burned in the Kincade Fire as of Friday. That blaze in popular wine country more than doubled in size in a 24-hour block. Thus...

County’s places of worship, retail stores allowed to open at reduced capacity

Watsonville in-store
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Tuesday revised her shelter-in-place order to align most of the county’s restrictions with that of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. The new county order will open places of worship, in-store retail, outdoor museums and limited...

Gov. Newsom: mail-in ballots for all voters in November

Newsom online voting
SACRAMENTO—Every registered voter in California will receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the November election after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday. The order requires that each county’s elections officials send vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 3 general election to all registered voters.  Californians...

The nature of change

Two artists have come together to present “Continuum & Flux,” a new art exhibit now open at the Cabrillo Gallery.

PVUSD builds on Career Technical Education program

PVUSD
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously approved nine new courses at five high schools that will bolster the district’s newly retooled Career Technical Education program. The new courses were created as extensions of the existing ones, with the penultimate...

Fundraiser for slain Sheriff’s deputy raises more than $320k

Damon Gutzwiller
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Peace Officers Research Association of California has established a fundraiser for the family of Damon Gutzwiller, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy who was shot and killed in the line of duty Saturday in Ben Lomond. The account has collected more than...