Local News

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz woman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of using social media to sell vape products and alcohol to minors. Martha Espinoza, 41, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail, but was not in custody on Thursday morning, jail records showed. The Santa Cruz...

WATSONVILLE—The addition of a third fire station would not significantly improve Watsonville Fire Department’s response time to most neighborhoods, according to a 142-page report presented to the Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting. Fitch & Associates found that while a third station on the...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Shelter Services (PVSS) will hold the 38th Annual Mother’s Day Run & Walk on May 8, returning to an in-person event for the first time since 2019. The popular community event has been held virtually the past two years due to Covid-19. But...

WATSONVILLE—A group is planning to file a complaint to the California Attorney General’s Office against the city of Watsonville and the County of Santa Cruz for advancing a housing project that they say will create an environmental hazard for its future residents and a...

SAN MATEO COUNTY—A Watsonville man and a child were killed on April 29 after the pickup they were in plunged off a cliff and into the ocean at Pescadero State Beach in San Mateo County, Cal Fire in San Mateo reported. According to California Highway...

When Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education leads off the graduation season every year, it is a reminder that educational success does not always follow a traditional path, and that anyone can build for themselves new lives and find second chances—and gain new knowledge—when they are...

Police search a vehicle and home on the 500 block of Green Valley Road Wednesday. A Watsonville man was arrested near the home on suspicion of robbing the Rite Aid store on Freedom Boulevard just 24 hours earlier. Watsonville spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said police were...

Rhea Wood DeHart was a longtime teacher, union member, mentor and activist who helped lead the drive to unionize South County teachers, reshaped Watsonville politics and remained deeply active in the community she loved until the end of her life.

WATSONVILLE—Plans to build a four-story, 80-room hotel at the busy intersection of Main Street and Freedom Boulevard have once again stalled. Watsonville Community Development Department Director Suzi Merriam says that the permits granted to the developer, Kamalesh Patel, expired last fall. If the project is...

In the first months of the pandemic, Dientes Community Dental Care was forced to close its clinics throughout  Santa Cruz County. The nonprofit organization, which aims to give people access to high-quality, affordable oral healthcare, had initially not been considered essential. For more than two...