Local News

A Watsonville man with an extensive criminal record was arrested Monday after he allegedly exposed himself to several women in a laundromat. Joel Navarro, 27, was charged with assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy, oral copulation, sexual battery, attempted sexual battery and indecent...

WATSONVILLE—The Covid-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for Santa Cruz County renters, property managers and landlords alike. With renters suddenly out of work and unable to pay most, or even the entirety of their rent, threats of evictions have been looming. For some landlords,...

Rickey Crawford, 34, has been charged with sodomy of a person under 18, oral copulation of a person under 18, rape, sex with a minor. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, jail records show.

WATSONVILLE—A father and son who have faced numerous marijuana-related charges in the past were arrested again on April 19 after a California Highway Patrol officer found nearly five pounds of marijuana in their vehicle. According to CHP officer Sam Courtney, Elias Ayala Gutierrez, 50, and...

WATSONVILLE—After years of waiting, advocating, fighting and fretting, people who live near the Pajaro River – and in the community around it – can breathe a sigh of relief. That’s after a feasibility report released Thursday by the Army Corps of Engineers, and a separate...

WATSONVILLE—The Crosetti Building at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds was almost unrecognizable Saturday evening, decked out for the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture’s 58th annual Gala and Dinner. Going for a “Roaring ‘20s” theme, the inside of the building was decorated in black,...

The Watsonville City Council on Oct. 22 unanimously approved two new low-income housing developments that will add 18 units to the city and give some families a chance at home ownership. The developments at 36 Airport Road and Evan Court—both properties are near each other...

A long-standing fitness center—Toadal Fitness—has opened a new location at 25 Penny Lane in Watsonville. With other locations sprinkled around the county including downtown Santa Cruz, Live Oak, Westside Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, the Watsonville location threw a soft opening Monday. “While the previous...

SANTA CRUZ—William T. Doyle, a Watsonville High School graduate who founded the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz—in addition to Long Marine Laboratory—and was professor emeritus of biology at the university, died April 21 at his home in Santa Cruz. He was...

The County of Monterey has ended its Non-Congregate Shelter (NCS) program, which has supported Pajaro flooding victims since March. Families in need will still have access to housing services, but County officials have moved the program closer to its homeless services providers.  Under the program—estimated to...