Local News

APTOS—Four 160-foot flag poles that once served as radio towers and loomed over the heavily-traveled intersection of State Park Drive at Highway 1 were brought back to Earth Tuesday. A crew from the Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. used a huge crane to grab onto...

Editor’s note: This is the first entry of a weekly four-part series about the Pajaro Valley’s Japanese community. The series will culminate on Aug. 14, coinciding with this year’s celebration of the Obon Festival, a cultural and religious Japanese event honoring one’s ancestors.  By Hugh...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz area California Highway Patrol has brought aboard a new Captain, Aron Ching.  Born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands, Ching moved to California to pursue a career with the CHP and has been with the department for 23 years.  His new...

ROYAL OAKS—A 63-year-old man died Thursday after he reportedly fell into a machine at Monterey Mushrooms on Maher Road in Royal Oaks, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office said.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, is investigating the industrial accident. They said Jose Fierro...

Editor’s note: This is the first entry in a monthly series about the history scattered throughout downtown Watsonville and the city at large. For the past several months I’ve been getting around town, mostly by bus and on foot. Besides being a giant change in...

WATSONVILLE—Harold “Hal” Hyde, the WWII veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Nazi death camps before returning home to the community he loved to help found Cabrillo College and establish UC Santa Cruz, died Monday. He was 97. Hyde’s daughter...

WATSONVILLE—Two men accused of stealing an SUV were arrested Monday after an off-duty Watsonville Police officer spotted the pair casing vehicles in a neighborhood off of Lighthouse Drive. Christian Torres, 18, and Jesus Torres, 19, face charges for vehicle theft, petty theft, and for obstructing...

WATSONVILLE—The Santa Cruz Warriors’ season ended more than seven months ago—it was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic—but the NBA G League franchise has found different ways to score points in the Santa Cruz County. Team mascot Mav’Riks on Oct. 12 dropped off a...

WATSONVILLE—The newly constructed roundabout at the intersection of Highway 129 (Riverside Road) and Lakeview Road opened on Dec. 3 to through traffic. Final roadway striping and a variety of construction details will be completed over the next few weeks, but the roadway and roundabout are...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz METRO bus system is maintaining regular schedules during the coronavirus crisis but discussions are now underway, based on the county’s shelter-in-place order Monday, that could lead to limiting some service.  In addition, the METRO Pacific Station Transit Center lobby and...