Local News

WATSONVILLE—The company that purchased Watsonville Community Hospital two years ago—Los Angeles-based Halsen Healthcare—has been removed from a leadership role as of Jan. 18. Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings will now run the hospital on an interim basis. The announcement came Monday via an email to...

A little more than two years after the former Kmart store on Freedom Boulevard closed its doors, the space will soon have a new tenant.  Vallarta Supermarket, which has more than 50 locations throughout California—the most recent one in Salinas—will occupy half of the 100,000-square-foot...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police on Thursday arrested a Salinas woman accused of embezzling more than $75,000 from a Watsonville business located on Hangar Way. Julie Brooks, 50, faces felony grand theft charges. She was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on $100,000 bail, but was not in...

WATSONVILLE—El Distrito Escolar Unificado del Valle de Pájaro (PVUSD, por sus siglas en inglés) comenzará el año con aprendizaje a distancia para todos los estudiantes cuando las clases comienzan el 17 de Agosto, una medida destinada a mantener a los estudiantes y al personal...

WATSONVILLE—The addition of around 4,000 new housing units over the course of 25 years. Two-way traffic on Lake and Beach streets. A completely reimagined industrial district on Walker Street. A network of pedestrian “paseos” that provides safe walking paths. The reduction of one lane...

Laura Segura, whose leadership at Monarch Services topped off a lifetime of service to the community in which she grew up, and who was as known for her fierce advocacy as she was for being an athlete, artist, friend and—for a small stretch in...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Monday ordered all residents to stay home unless engaging in “essential activities, essential governmental functions, or to operate essential businesses.” In addition, all public and private outdoor gatherings are prohibited, as is all non-essential travel. Residents can still go...

On Monday I clipped my bike to the 91X Metro Express bus on Water Street in Santa Cruz and came out to Watsonville. The express bus is just that — it whistles out to south county very quickly: I climbed off the bus 35...

WATSONVILLE—A 15-year-old boy died from stab wounds late Aug. 7 on Marin Street in Watsonville and two teen males have been taken into custody. Watsonville Police Department spokesperson Michelle Pulido said police took a 17-year-old male into custody Monday night on suspicion of homicide.  On Monday...

WATSONVILLE—A family of a man who died from Covid-19 at Watsonville Post Acute Center (WPAC) has sued the facility. Donald Wickham, 94, died on Oct. 10. He was one of 16 residents who died after contracting the virus. According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 10 by...