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...

CALIFORNIA—As California deals with a surge of Covid-19 cases, hope is in sight as the vaccine begins to be administered to healthcare workers and long-term care residents. And on Jan. 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that farmworkers would be included in the next tier. The announcement...

WATSONVILLE—A man wanted for an attempted murder in Watsonville on Jan. 7 was arrested Tuesday during a high-risk traffic stop. Ian Coetzee, 21, was charged with attempted murder. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $375,000 bail, jail records showed. According to...

WATSONVILLE—The LGBTQ Pride flag will fly in place of the city of Watsonville flag at the Civic Plaza in June after the Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution put forth by Mayor Jimmy Dutra, the city’s first openly gay person to hold...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council unanimously denied a special use permit for a proposed propane storage facility after a more than two-hour hearing in which several members of the public called the project an example of “environmental racism.” Richard Kojak of Mountain Propane Service in Felton...

As Joseph Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States Wednesday morning, a heavy police and military presence in Sacramento was met with a meager number of protesters and eerily quiet streets.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Heavy winds pummeled the Central Coast Monday night and into Tuesday, causing numerous power outages, scores of power lines to crash to the ground and several wildland fires, including a large one just north of Watsonville. Dubbed the Freedom Fire by Cal Fire’s...

Editor's note: This story has been updated from a previous version. WATSONVILLE—A lengthy standoff between a man with a handgun who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s Watsonville home and heavily-armed police ended peacefully after more than nine hours. Around 1am Tuesday Jessie Andrade, 30, crashed through a...

SANTA CRUZ—A woman was taken into custody Monday following a high-speed chase that originated in San Jose and came to a safe end in downtown Santa Cruz. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Coutney said an elderly man was sitting in a Ford transport van outside...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its first meeting of year will weigh whether to approve a proposed 170,000 gallon propane storage facility at 950 West Beach St., a project that has been much debated since it was first introduced in July of 2020. If approved,...