Local News

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County now has another tool to help survivors of sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) program, a team of nurses trained to recognize, document and collect evidence from patients, resumed operations at Dominican Hospital on Aug. 24 after a three-year...

Two men remain at large following a string of robberies Wednesday evening in Santa Cruz and Aptos.

SANTA CRUZ—The 27-year-old Watsonville man who died March 25 after a four-vehicle crash on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz has been identified as Cameron Olsen. According to California Highway Patrol officer Alyssa Gutierrez, a 77-year-old Moss Landing man was driving south on Highway 1 at...

Watsonville Fire Capt. Rick Pettigrew (left) assists his crew in knocking down a wild land fire Tuesday that broke out in the Watsonville Slough brush-lands near the corner of Main Street at Ohlone Parkway. Firefighters tackled the 3pm blaze within 20 minutes after multiple...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Monday arrested a Santa Cruz man on several felony sex crimes, sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said. Lucas Klatt, 39, was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child, annoying or molesting a child and burglary. Klatt is known...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—On Tuesday Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County (SCFB) announced that its annual Holiday Food & Fund Drive (HFFD) raised the equivalent of 5.5 million meals—more than 1 million beyond its original goal. Prior to the pandemic HFFD co-chairs Megan Martinelli and...

Pajaro Valley Arts is preparing for its first show in 2026, an annual members’ exhibit titled “Welcome Home.”  Curated by first-time curator Jim Turner, the exhibit will feature 150 artists and will run from Jan. 13-Feb. 21 in the historic Porter Building in downtown Watsonville.  “We...

Belle Espinoza, 10, shows an egg that withstood a four-story drop to the ground Wednesday with her homemade contraption alongside Darren Gertler, Environmental Education Coordinator. Thirty-two youths took part in the 19th annual Egg Drop competition as part of Engineer’s Week in downtown Watsonville....

APTOS—Pajaro Valley Unified School District announced Wednesday it is closing Rio Del Mar Elementary School for two days after a person there tested positive for coronavirus. District officials are not saying what the person’s relationship to the school is. They were last at the school...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Supervisors bade farewell to two longtime members Tuesday, both of whom served as city council members in their respective districts before taking their seat on the Board. Ryan Coonerty joined the Board in 2014 after serving on the Santa...