Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Felipe Hernandez, who has served as a member of the Watsonville City Council since 2012, including a stint as mayor, has won the race for Cabrillo College Governing Board Trustee Area 5 against incumbent Leticia Mendoza. As numbers rolled in on election night,...

WATSONVILLE—In the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees race, Trustee Area 6 incumbent Maria Orozco has garnered more than 5% of the 6,145 votes tallied as of 2pm Thursday, putting her far ahead of Adam Bolaños Scow and likely clinching the seat.  “I’m...

WATSONVILLE—Jimmy Dutra opened a large, early lead on Tony Gomez in the race for the District 6 seat on the Watsonville City Council, a position that will come with the mayorship in the incoming year, and never looked back. Dutra had 64% of 2,484 votes...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Joe Biden has reportedly won the presidency and ousted President Donald Trump after winning the 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 he needed, results showed Saturday morning. Results are still being counted in Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, all of...

Christopher David Ow, a member of the prominent Santa Cruz real estate family, died recently in a Southern California motorcycle crash, according to family sources. He was 54. Ow was a property manager with Ow Family Properties and was the on-site manager at King’s Village...

Yesterday I was lucky to wander through Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services on West Beach Street to cover a group from the San Jose Sharks who were loading up 70 grocery bags for the community and dropping off a $10,000 check. I was...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz man died Thursday evening when he was struck by a car as he attempted to walk across heavily-traveled Mission Street. Santa Cruz Police spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke said officers initially responded to a call regarding a vehicle-pedestrian collision at the intersection of...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting is expected to loan Eden Housing $1 million to help the nonprofit developer build a 53-unit affordable apartment complex on Freedom Boulevard. The loan would come from the City’s Successor Agency Housing Fund, which has a balance...

SANTA CRUZ—The Watsonville man accused of killing his wife, and then leaving her body in a vehicle near where she worked in Santa Cruz, made his second appearance in Santa Cruz County Superior Court Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty. Cesar Antonio Hernandez, 47, is...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police have arrested three men suspected of participating in a carjacking on Oct. 30. Manuel Hernandez, 18, Joel Vasquez, 29, and Raul Leal, 23, face several felony charges. They were booked into Santa Cruz County Jail. Hernandez is being held in lieu of $200,000...