Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Tuesday revised her shelter-in-place order to align most of the county’s restrictions with that of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. The new county order will open places of worship, in-store retail, outdoor museums and limited...

WATSONVILLE—Author Stephanie Sabatinelli was inspired to write her first children’s book, “The Spittle Spattle Bug,” by her aunt’s enthusiasm for science and the environment.  The book features a spittlebug, a type of hemipteran insect best known for sucking moisture out of plants and encasing themselves...

Gravesites are marked with flags on Memorial Day at the Evergreen Cemetery in Harvest West Park in Santa Cruz Monday. Previously known as Decoration Day, it is a federal holiday in the U.S. designed to honor and mourn military personnel who died while serving in the armed...

Today is Memorial Day, a federal holiday in the U.S. designed to honor and mourn military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. It also marks the unofficial start of summer in the U.S.  • Travel is at an all-time low this holiday weekend, officials...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville on Tuesday will ask the City Council to allow its moratorium on evictions to expire at the end of the month, and instead defer to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide executive order and protections put in place by California’s Judicial Council. The...

SANTA CRUZ—The family of the 8-year-old girl who was murdered in 2015 is facing a new tragedy after someone stole the urn containing her ashes. Madyson “Maddy” Middleton’s family says that her father Michel Middleton was keeping the urn in the glovebox of his unlocked...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School Principal Elaine Legorreta, whose career in education began at the school in 1997, will retire at the end of the school year. She said she wants her replacement to be a person with the energy required for the job, which includes 16-hour...

A woman who lost her wallet in 1962 was reunited with it 58 years later this week when construction workers found the red leather folding wallet during a refurbishing project of a movie theater. It was discovered in a framing and sheetrock cavity inside...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated from a previous version first published on May 22. WATSONVILLE—Four ‘clusters’ of Covid-19 cases have been identified in the Watsonville area, all of them associated with large family gatherings, according to Santa Cruz County officials. There have been at least...

WATSONVILLE—When April Ortiz became pregnant during her senior year at Watsonville High School, severe morning sickness and other complications sidelined her education. Then came the birth. “Mothering was a new life and a new experience,” she said.  Ortiz, now 26, received her GED on May 22 from...