News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The County of Santa Cruz will hold a public meeting to collect input on establishing an Independent Sheriff’s Auditor (ISA), a position the County says will provide oversight into the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.  The meeting will take place Tuesday, Aug. 30,...

APTOS—Plans are moving forward with the Aptos Branch Library project to raze the existing 8,000-square-foot building near the corner of State Park and Soquel drives, and build a 12,400-square-foot replacement. While the wrecking ball is not expected to swing loose until next summer, strides have...

NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY—The North Monterey County Fire Protection District is ushering in a new era. A month after announcing it will promote longtime employee Joel Mendoza to Fire Chief, the North County Fire Board of Directors celebrated the approval of a benefit assessment that will...

WATSONVILLE—Around 300 area students were presented with free backpacks loaded with school supplies Saturday thanks to the Salvation Army in Watsonville and a handful of other groups.  By 10am a lengthy line of students and their families lined up at Watsonville Plaza to fill new...

Collin Travers (from right), Saul Valadez and Juan Trujillo of the Watsonville Police Department join Robert Strong as he carries the torch in the annual Law Enforcement Special Olympics Torch Run in Watsonville Wednesday. Since 1981 the Torch Run, a global movement, has served...

About 50 people, joined by religious leaders from across the U.S., picketed in front of Well-Pict cooler on Riverside Drive Friday. The group was demanding that Premiere Raspberries LLC comply with an Aug. 29 ruling by the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board ordering the grower to implement a union contract for its 550 workers.

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday will consider approving a financing method that will allow the district to purchase its Towers headquarters.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting will weigh whether to overhaul its tax rates on cannabis businesses, a move a consultant and city staff say would make the city more competitive with neighboring jurisdictions. The proposed changes would cut taxes on retail cannabis...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The shooting that killed a man in Boulder Creek on Jan. 28 followed two mass shootings in California, which themselves came amidst a flurry of gun violence across the U.S.  In response, several Democratic lawmakers have teamed up with Gov. Gavin Newsom to...

WATSONVILLE—A 23-year-old man was arrested late Saturday night after he led police from multiple agencies on a low-speed chase around Watsonville and Pajaro. The string of events started around 7:35pm when Watsonville Police got a call regarding a possible carjacking at gunpoint in the McDonald’s...