Local News

Watsonville Police Detectives have arrested a man who filmed himself sexually assaulting at least two children.

Watsonville Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a 25-year-old woman after she was reported missing Saturday night after her partner threatened police and was shot. WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said Lizbeth Arceo Sedano has not been seen since Saturday night. Her partner, Joshua...

WATSONVILLE—The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently renewed its call to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers change how it distributes its flood control funding. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend, a NACo board member, says that, too often, funding decisions for federal flood...

WATSONVILLE—Dozens of City of Watsonville employees, Watsonville residents, community organizers, elected leaders and nonprofit chiefs cycled through the Community Room at the Civic Plaza to welcome new city manager Rene Mendez on Wednesday evening. Mendez, who took over as the city’s chief executive on July...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that all inmates at Santa Cruz County Jail have tested negative for Covid-19. The announcement follows news that several correctional officers who work at the jail tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an outbreak that has...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to repeal and completely replace the county’s ordinances governing wireless communication facilities that allow coverage for cell phones and the internet. The new rules essentially speed up the permitting process...

WATSONVILLE—In 1961, two years after Cabrillo College in Aptos was established, Rich Hart was hired by the school to start its brand new Engineering department.  Hart would go on to be chair of the department as well as its sole instructor for 34 years, teaching...

Watsonville’s Freedom Bakery—the oldest family-owned bakery in the Monterey Bay region—is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, marking five decades of providing the community with cakes and other desserts.  The bakery was founded in 1975 by Tony Liu, a Taiwanese immigrant who came to the...

WATSONVILLE—A proposed 80-unit affordable apartment complex between Atkinson Lane and Brewington Avenue received a unanimous recommendation for approval from the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission on Wednesday morning. In the works since 2013, the project is an extension of the 46-unit Pippin Orchards apartment complex...