Local News

SANTA CRUZ—The man who was 15 when he kidnapped, raped and murdered 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton and then dumped her body in a recycling bin was sentenced Tuesday to juvenile prison until he turns 25 in October 2024. Adrian “A.J.” Gonzalez, now 21, must also...

In the days when ranches and wilderness made up much of the Central Coast, the Castro family owned some 13,000 acres, on which they farmed and raised cattle.

Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board (PVHCD) Chair and former Watsonville Community Hospital CEO John Friel, who took the lead of the fledgling agency at its outset in 2022, died March 21 after battling an undisclosed illness.  Friel resigned from his position on March 19,...

For Michelle Martinez Kamalani and her mother, Judy Martinez of Watsonville, Memorial Day meant setting time aside to visit Valley Catholic Cemetery.  With an electric weed-whacker, a whisk broom,  hand clippers and two bunches of fresh flowers, the pair wandered through the rows of flower-festooned...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville man who died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road has been identified as Andres Garcia Vidal. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said Vidal, 33, was driving a blue 1998 Volkswagen Beetle eastbound on Amesti Road east of Cypress...

A fire at Bamboo Giant on Freedom Boulevard early Tuesday afternoon damaged a structure, spread into the neighboring field and closed the road in both directions. According to CalFire spokesman Tony Akin, the blaze broke out just past noon. Firefighters were met with towering flames...

Emergency officials deal with a two-vehicle crash on Highway 1 at Old Chittenden Road Wednesday afternoon that killed two people. California Highway Patrol officer Stephen Armfield said the male driver of a 2008 Honda Ridgeline pickup was traveling east on Hwy 129 with two other...

UPDATE: Suspect turns himself in to Watsonville Police Department. ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Two people were killed and two were injured in a shooting at a Pajaro bar early Tuesday morning. According to Monterey County Undersheriff Keith Boyd, deputies responded to El Torero Bar at 540 Salinas Road just...

WATSONVILLE—A 20-year-old Salinas man died in a head-on crash on the Riverside Drive Highway 1 overcrossing in Watsonville on Nov. 20. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn identified the victim as Cesar Romero. Sam Courtney of the California Highway Patrol said Romero was driving...