Local News

A large portion of the Coastal Rail Trail project is at risk after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday failed to approve staff recommendations to move forward with the work. While the supervisors did approve the environmental impact report after an hours-long...

A Watsonville man was killed Wednesday when his vehicle struck a metal street light pole on Riverside Drive at Rodriguez Street at 5:09pm. The man, 54, who has not been named, died as he was flown away from the scene by CALSTAR air ambulance to...

Five students from Aptos and Watsonville high schools toured the historic Tor House and Hawk Tower in Carmel Saturday, a field trip designed to sharpen their interest and skills as young poets. The iconic stone home and tower, built above the rugged rocky coastline at...

Fourth grade students from Mar Vista Elementary School get an up-close view of a Robinson 22 helicopter Tuesday during a tour of the Watsonville Municipal Airport. Now in its third year, the community outreach program by the Municipal Airport exposed kids to various aspects...

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously approved a three-year contract for its new superintendent. Heather Contreras’ contract shows her start date of May 1. Her base pay will be $242,000 per year, with a 2% raise after one year,...

In a little more than a year, Ramsay Park in Watsonville will boast a new dog park, a new multi-use synthetic sports field, a new state-of-the-art nature center and new lights for its pathways, parking lots and athletic fields. Plans also include an all-inclusive playground,...

Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board (PVHCD) Chair and former Watsonville Community Hospital CEO John Friel, who took the lead of the fledgling agency at its outset in 2022, died March 21 after battling an undisclosed illness.  Friel resigned from his position on March 19,...

A search-and-rescue team on Friday located the body of a woman who had been missing since Monday after she went for a hike in Tassajara in the Ventana Wilderness. Caroline Meister was found about 4pm after rescuers performed a high angle search off of the...

Tarmo Hannula and Todd Guild contributed to this story Jerry Castro has lived in the same house on Cayetano Street in Pajaro all his life. His parents owned it before him, he then bought it off of them. His children and their children were also...

A 20-year-old Sonora man died early Friday morning when he was struck by a car on Highway 1 in Watsonville. The California Highway Patrol said the man, who has not been named, suddenly walked out onto the slow lane of northbound Highway 1 near Main...