Local News

A man was arrested Wednesday at his Watsonville home on suspicion of arranging for sex with a minor, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (SDPS).  Officials at the SDPS received information that Pablo Taskey, 27, used an online social media application, and arranged...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved a $200 fee for community initiated public art on privately owned commercial property. The fee will be used to defray the cost of city staff preparing reports on proposed public art for presentation to the Parks & Recreation Commission,...

A 30-year-old Greenfield man died in a head-on crash on Highway 1 late Wednesday night. Julieta Trenado of the California Highway Patrol said the victim, who has not been identified, was driving the wrong way in the southbound lanes at 11:35 p.m. in a 2013...

SANTA CRUZ — A group of citizens is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the kidnapping and murder of Santa Cruz County resident Tushar Atre. The information must be received no later than Nov. 30. Atre was kidnapped on Oct. 1...

Firefighters from multiple agencies were busy with a Wednesday evening blaze off of Melody Lane in the outskirts of Watsonville. https://www.facebook.com/pajaronian/videos/2423488927972071/?__xts__=68.ARCqCv3ijRLsmVTzW2QsNxWROAnyRMAmbhOb7fWZhXImJFRNQtgejTw4epGRlLSp3lfRX9bjTe0q0RMu9HlWImg__c6Jk0J1XFHESJYYLYbZ8F4AJequGJ9f3bTZxg6Bvnv0iWthJmP_78y4uxr4fJjLV8rjkj6JuTn0BJzA4cvdzd6XXj3GTLeRpwXz_nUEl2VcpA4Eqaho9PQTzur810M1BG54J4IKBtwN9TKDX0vgmHKwqd1VevXd5BZZaOfsQ8w_XClA72FWpaVBOMriU-LOGN0wRB6VmKbX6MGT0bASfdKKlE4jb8SP-a8SOG32s_ikNnOKhA55TSoFw1OyXuuG2q-pRd-OXTE&__tn__=-R Firefighters doused the flame just before 7 p.m., putting an end to the large column of black smoke that could be seen for miles. The...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Downtown Complete Streets Plan, a $27 million project that proposes sweeping changes to the corridor’s structure. The plan presented at Tuesday’s meeting included the much-debated lane reduction on Main Street, which the public was strongly opposed...

WATSONVILLE—A trip to Pinto Lake County Park can include a picnic, time at the playground and a stroll along the lake. Now, it can also include picking up – or dropping off – a book at a Little Free Library, which was installed on Sept....

Oct. 25, 2019 Tarmo Hannula: Twelve wildland fires are burning around the state, forcing widespread evacuations, destroying scores of homes and buildings, closing freeways and roads and sending herds of firefighter strike teams to out-of-county responses. In Sonoma County, 21,900 acres have burned in the...

SANTA CRUZ—Nearly five years after Michael Escobar allegedly gunned down a rival gang member and killed a young girl in the crossfire, his case is finally being presented to a jury. Jurors heard opening arguments Tuesday in the case that is likely to take at...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is installing green bike lanes on five heavily-trafficked streets throughout the city. City officials celebrated the start of the project with a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday at the corner of Bridge Street and Hushbeck Avenue. That installment will stretch from the intersection...