Local News

A Watsonville man was arrested early Tuesday morning after a brief chase in a stolen car, which ended when he collided with a tree.

A donation by Union Pacific Railroad will help Community Bridges continue its work of helping Pajaro residents recover from the flood that wreaked havoc on the community in March. Union Pacific Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs for the Western Region Adrian Guerrero says that...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—When Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel revised her shelter-in-place order on May 1, she relaxed restrictions on summer programs such as daycare and day camp, allowing families to begin planning activities for their kids after months of restrictions. The announcement came...

WATSONVILLE—Plans to build a four-story, 80-room hotel at the busy intersection of Main Street and Freedom Boulevard have once again stalled. Watsonville Community Development Department Director Suzi Merriam says that the permits granted to the developer, Kamalesh Patel, expired last fall. If the project is...

Santa Cruz County re-opened its new sobering center, where people under the influence of drugs and who are drunk in public—as well as first-time DUI offenders—can sober up, avoid jail and connect with services.

Thanks to the efforts of a group of local students and artist Jaime Sanchez, a new colorful mural has been added to an outdoor wall of the Family Center in Ramsay Park. The 65-by-15-foot work, titled "The Bigger Picture,” stems from the Teen Artes program...

The Watsonville Police Department is warning the public to beware of so-called virtual kidnappings, where suspects threaten victims without laying a hand on them.

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz man was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of homicide, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said. Leif Ames, 35, was arrested around 8:50 p.m. after deputies were dispatched to a home on the 800 block of Brommer Street in Live Oak...

In the decade between 2013-23, volunteers and nonprofits picked up 439,358 cigarette butts from Santa Cruz County’s beaches and natural areas, accounting for a quarter of all litter found here. That’s according to Save Our Shores (SOS), a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that works to support...