Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The CZU August Lightning Complex fires have so far destroyed more than 500 homes and forced 77,000 people to evacuate from their community. Those people have flooded evacuation centers throughout the county. That, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic that has upended the economy...

WATSONVILLE—A man who was recently hired as a Watsonville Police officer—and who is facing assault and vandalism charges for a bizarre string of incidents in South Lake Tahoe on Aug. 20—is no longer employed with the City of Watsonville, Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday revealed what he called a new, more “stringent” four-tiered reopening system that allows counties to open their economies depending on their Covid-19 case and test positivity rates. The new system replaces the monitoring list and removes many of the old...

I walked past the former Second Street cafe on Second Street in downtown Watsonville Thursday and noticed new logo signs in the window for the Craft Bakeshop and Eatery. The folks that owned Corralitos Coffee are on the move to open the new business...

Do you have a recent photo you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to [email protected] or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as the name...

WATSONVILLE—During a busy night with a loaded agenda, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved plans to boost internet access throughout the city, hire a nurse to coordinate the district’s Covid-19 response and use grant money to purchase an...

SCOTTS VALLEY—The level of containment in the CZU August Lightning Complex fires continues to increase, and so does the number of confirmed destroyed and damaged structures. The blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains has destroyed 746 structures and is still threatening more than 13,000 others...

SCOTTS VALLEY—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday arrested a Live Oak man suspected of using credit and bank cards stolen from a firefighter’s truck to make thousands of dollars in purchases. Brian Lee Johnson, 37, has been charged with using stolen credit cards, receiving...

ALAMEDA—The man who allegedly shot and killed a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy before engaging in an explosive-laden crime spree in the Santa Cruz Mountains town of Ben Lomond on June 6 pleaded not guilty Thursday to a host of charges in Alameda County...

By Jake Pierce, Good Times News Editor SCOTTS VALLEY—The number of acres burned by the CZU Lightning Complex fire is up to 81,137, local Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox told reporters Wednesday night. So far, investigators have found that the fire has destroyed 579 structures...