Local News

Monterey County Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers investigated a solo motorcycle crash on San Miguel Canyon Road near Lewis Road in Royal Oaks Sunday night after the driver reportedly fled from police.

Peter Francis Dunne of Santa Cruz was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on felony charges of assault with intent to rape, sexual assault with force, and oral copulation, Sgt. Dee Baldwin of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting is expected to make a decision on a long-awaited park project at Ramsay Park that would create a haven for the area’s mountain bikers. City staff is proposing that the old Ramsay Park skatepark on the Harkins Slough...

WATSONVILLE—Governor Gavin Newsom on the final day of action for the 2019 legislative season signed Assembly Bill 1783, also known as the Farmworker Housing Act of 2019, which creates a streamlined process to build farmworker housing on agricultural land. The bill was authored by Assemblymember...

An upbeat ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance headquarters at the corner of East Lake and Brewington avenues unfolded under sunny skies Thursday in Watsonville. The new facility is an expansion of PVPSA, a local nonprofit that aims...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a temporary ordinance that will allow law enforcement officials to issue tickets to people violating county health orders, including not wearing a face covering where it is required. Under the new county...

WATSONVILLE—Ella’s at the Airport opened at Watsonville Municipal Airport in 2015, and since then has garnered a large following of customers. Owner Ella King, who at the time also owned the popular Cafe Ella, took the building—closed for one year after the previous restaurant was...

WATSONVILLE—Work began over the weekend on a major restoration of a long-standing outdoor mural at the La Manzana center. Muralist Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda, who is the creative drive behind scores of murals around Santa Cruz County, Salinas and San Diego, said it was time to...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Open Farm Tours will return this weekend—albeit in a different capacity. Pre-registration is now required for small, socially-distanced outdoor tours at the following farms: Thomas Farm and Luz Del Valle Farm in Aptos, and GroundSwell Farm in Santa Cruz. Additional participating...