Local News

In a brief special meeting on  Dec. 27, three Santa Cruz County Supervisors declared a local emergency, which will allow officials to request state and federal assistance for the damages from the heavy surf, winds and storm surge on Dec. 23 and 24. The waves...

Watsonville may soon draw out designated “no encampment zones” which would bar unhoused individuals from setting up tents, parking RVs or using cooking supplies in certain areas.  Signs would be posted showing a map of the zones.  These areas would be subject to immediate cleanup, and...

By Aiyana Moya SANTA CRUZ—A soft chorus of voices, coming from the Santa Cruz Threshold Singers, welcomes guests as they walk into the Santa Cruz County Vets building Dec. 21 where the annual Homeless Memorial is taking place.  This year marks the first year since the...

WATSONVILLE–Gene Johnson, who coached nearly six decades in Santa Cruz County, died Jan. 14, two days shy of his 95th birthday. He spent the last year and a half at Valley Convalescent Hospital in Watsonville with his wife, Doris, where they celebrated their 73rd anniversary...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police are warning the public about the increasing prevalence of virtual kidnapping scams, in which callers claim to have kidnapped a family member and demand a ransom payment. “Within the last week, officers have received nearly a half dozen calls from virtual kidnapping victims,”...

This home at 20 9th St. in Watsonville is boarded up early Wednesday morning after fire tore through the living room.

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police Department officers arrested a 15-year-old who they say was seen near Watsonville High School with a loaded handgun on Monday. A Watsonville High campus supervisor notified the school’s resource officer who then relayed the call to nearby officers, WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. The...

The Monterey Bay Horsemanship and Therapeutic Center is in need of a vehicle to transport its clients to and from the ranch.

WATSONVILLE—About 15 people sat quietly in rows of chairs facing an altar of votive candles, flowers, photographs and memorabilia in a carport near downtown Watsonville on Sunday. Just hours prior, an 18-year-old man who, family says, had moved to the U.S. from Oaxaca, Mexico a...

The Never Forget Memorial Relay was held Sunday in Aptos Village Park. The eighth annual  event featured 33  teams of four from police and fire departments, California State Parks, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office, the county Probation Department and others whose teams...