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WATSONVILLE—A woman was injured when a fire roared through her mobile home Thursday at Meadows Manor, 49 Blanca Lane. Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for Watsonville Police, said two good Samaritans burst through the front door of the single-wide home after they spotted flames and smoke barreling...

SANTA CRUZ—Dientes Community Dental care has launched Santa Cruz County’s first dental residency program, in partnership with and sponsored by NYU Langone Hospitals, the world’s largest postdoctoral dental program to train dentists in the public health setting. In this inaugural year, Dientes is hosting two...

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...

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...

A Watsonville firefighter helps clean up the scene of a two-vehicle crash on East Lake Avenue at Blackburn Street Thursday night. Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said Margarito Martinez-Garcia, 19, was traveling westbound in a Honda Accord at 7:20pm when he plowed into the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley has been awarded $50,000 by the Lewis Prize for Music, which will help further the nonprofit’s work in bringing music education to local students. El Sistema was named one of 10 finalists for the Lewis Prize for Music’s...

WATSONVILLE—As Watsonville residents on Monday shoveled mud from their homes and assessed damage from the storm that wrought havoc and destruction across Santa Cruz County, City officials were urging residents to prepare for the next deluge expected on Wednesday. “Prepare for flooding, and prepare for...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (center) is joined by other dignitaries and officials Wednesday during a visit to Pajaro where floodwaters have shut down the town of around 2,000 people and flooded homes, vehicles and farms. Newsom arrived shortly before noon in Pajaro and was...

WATSONVILLE—After years of cooking lessons conducted from push-carts wheeled into its classrooms, Starlight Elementary School on Wednesday unveiled a professional, state-of-the-art teaching kitchen created to imbue a knowledge of—and possibly a passion for—the culinary arts.  The facility is located adjacent to a garden, designed to...

Santa Cruz County-based healthcare providers Dientes and Salud Para la Gente recently received a $5 million grant from the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation. The organizations were added to the foundation’s Senior Oral Health Coalition Program, which was launched in 2022 to address the oral...