Suspect arrested with guns, drugs at Watsonville motel
WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville man with several outstanding felony warrants was arrested Dec. 2 when police found two loaded guns and nearly 200 grams of methamphetamine in his room.
Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said officers arrested Angel Contreras, 35, at a motel on the 900 block...
United Way receives major grant for youth programs
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Two youth programs of United Way of Santa Cruz County (UWSCC) will get a boost of funding in the new year after receiving a grant from Elevate Youth California, a statewide program aiming at addressing substance use disorder.
Youth Action Network (YAN) is...
Photo: Lighted Boat Parade returns
Boats in the Santa Cruz Harbor are illuminated Sunday night after the annual Lighted Boat Parade was held the night prior. The event, put on by the Santa Cruz Yacht Club, returned after two years of being canceled due to Covid-19. The rainy evening...
Food scrap composting program diverting tons from landfill
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Since it began in January, Santa Cruz County’s composting program has diverted nearly 50,000 tons of food scraps from the Buena Vista Landfill, vastly reducing the amount of methane being released into the atmosphere and reshaping the way residents view their trash.
That...
Reward offered for dogs’ killer
WATSONVILLE—People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect who poisoned two dogs in a residential backyard in Watsonville.
PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch said the dogs—named Bruno and Luna—died “in agony”...
Solar project underway at Cabrillo
APTOS—Cabrillo College is in the midst of transforming four of its parking lots with new solar carports, part of what college officials say is a sustainability project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Work is underway in parking lots A-D, which are just off Soquel...
Photo: A scent of pine
Mamh Corrigan sets up a display of trees at his family lot, Corrigan Christmas Trees, in the East Lake Village Shopping Center in Watsonville. He said his family is now in their 31st season of selling trees. They carry a range of trees, from...
A life, preserved: In memory of famed local taxidermist Richard Gurnee
Watsonville native Richard Gurnee, who revolutionized the field of scientific taxidermy by pioneering a freeze-drying technique still employed worldwide, died in October after a brief illness. He was 87.
Gurnee graduated from Watsonville High School in 1954, and then studied zoology at Humboldt State University.
But...
Cabrillo engineering class conducts survey for former department chair
WATSONVILLE—In 1961, two years after Cabrillo College in Aptos was established, Rich Hart was hired by the school to start its brand new Engineering department.
Hart would go on to be chair of the department as well as its sole instructor for 34 years, teaching...
Motorcyclist dies exiting Hwy 1
WATSONVILLE—A man died Friday around 12:45pm when he lost control of his motorcycle while exiting Highway 1 southbound at the Riverside exit.
California Highway patrol officer Israel Murillo said the motorcyclist shot off the pavement on the curve of the exit, plunged through a...
Neighbors worry over village for homeless people
Residents of a Watsonville neighborhood are pushing back against a proposed housing project meant to help homeless people staying along the Pajaro River levee....
