Local News

Dozens of law enforcement officials from two counties were searching the summit area high in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Soquel Village Tuesday morning after a burglary suspect fled from a sheriff’s deputy.

WATSONVILLE—Thanks to an alert citizen, a suspect is now in custody less than 24 hours after he reportedly snatched a woman’s purse.  The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to a reported robbery on the 100 block of Seacliff Drive around 4:15pm...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced that starting Saturday all non-essential businesses, travel and gatherings will be subject to a month-long curfew. Counties in the “Widespread,” or purple, tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan, will have to close all non-essential businesses and cease all...

Retired Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante has been named Janus of Santa Cruz’s new chief executive officer.

SANTA CRUZ—A man was shot late Tuesday night in the Beach Flats area of Santa Cruz near the Beach Boardwalk. At least two shots were reported by multiple witnesses around Third Street at Kaye Street at 9:14 p.m. Joyce Blaschke of the Santa Cruz Police...

Gina Castañeda, who founded Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy, received this year’s Kim Crabbe Game Changers Award from the  U.S. Soccer Federation.  She received the award in Atlanta, Georgia Saturday for creating Aztecas in 2008 and for being a driving force behind a wealth of local...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council in a Monday night special closed session meeting reviewed candidates for the city’s vacant city manager position. Watsonville City Attorney Samantha Zutler on Tuesday morning said that the council took no action on the item, the lone topic on the meeting’s...

The 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday, and organizers are asking the community for help in cleaning four inland sites around Watsonville.

Mariachi de Alma performs at the Share Your Holiday at the Elks Lodge in Watsonville Friday. Headed up by KSBW TV since 1986, the event—in conjunction with the Salvation Army—invited the public and businesses to contribute gifts, food and cash to help those in...

More than three months after storm damage forced the closure of Valencia Elementary School, Santa Cruz County work crews are beginning the repair work, county spokesman Jason Hoppin said Wednesday.