Greenway measure likely set for June election
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—In June, Santa Cruz County voters might be able to state their preference on what has become one of the region’s most contentious issues in the past decade: the future of the county’s 32-mile rail line.
On the ballot, voters will be asked...
Graniterock’s Algebra Academy completes 15th year
On Tuesday, as most of their peers were enjoying the waning remainder of their summer breaks, several groups of young people were sitting in classrooms, as math teachers and professors showed them the fundamentals and formulae of the math skills they will need in...
Arrest made in 1995 Watsonville homicide case
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man in Turlock Thursday on suspicion of murder in a cold case stemming back to 1995. Investigators were able to find forensic evidence linking John Laroche, 63, to the case, Ashley Keehn, a spokesperson for...
Judge: Watsonville airport must remove barriers
WATSONVILLE—A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge on Wednesday ruled that Watsonville Municipal Airport officials were in the wrong when they placed barriers at a business nearly three years ago that blocked access to the runways.
The Statement of Decision by Judge Timothy Volkmann means...
Charges mount for Hwy projectiles suspect
SALINAS—Charles Lafferty, the suspect in the projectile case that injured five people and left dozens of vehicles with shattered windows since February, was back in court Monday where he pled not guilty to 79 charges.
Shackled at the wrists and ankles and garbed in striped...
Man in critical condition after another shooting near levee
WATSONVILLE—A 46-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot early Saturday morning near the Pajaro River levee on Walker Street, an area that has seen two other shootings in recent months.
Watsonville Police Department officers were dispatched to the end of Walker Street near...
Jim Barsi—owner of Barsi’s Liquor Store—dies
James Joseph “Jim” Barsi, who ran his eponymous liquor store on East Lake Avenue for a half-century before selling the business and retiring in 2019, died on Jan. 26. He was 83.
Eddie Casillas said he began working for Barsi when he was 16, and...
Watsonville city councilman takes indefinite leave of absence
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Councilman Aurelio Gonzalez will take an indefinite leave of absence from his duties because of a family emergency, he confirmed Tuesday.
Gonzalez said that he hopes to return to the City Council and the various boards and commissions on which he sits sometime...
County Supervisors reject term limits
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposal to set term limits on their positions, saying that the current system of letting voters decide who fills the seats is sufficient.
The proposal by 4th District Supervisor Greg Caput would...
Sexual assault allegations surface against César Chávez
The nation’s oldest farmworker union announced Tuesday that it has canceled all events celebrating labor organizer César Chávez after allegations surfaced that he sexually...
