Local News

SANTA CRUZ—A 24-year-old woman died early Thursday morning when she was struck by a vehicle as she and her 4-year-old daughter crossed Highway 1 in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz Police Department spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke said the woman was crossing Highway 1 at River Street around...

Filmmaker and Watsonville High School alumnus Gabriel Medina already has several independent Hollywood-level movies on his resume, with various roles including writer, producer and director.  He recently earned his MFA from University of Southern California’s famed Peter Stark Producing Program, and has now returned to...

WATSONVILLE—Facing declining revenues, Watsonville Community Hospital has laid off about 10 employees, a little more than 1 percent of its workforce, Halsen Healthcare CEO Dan Brothman confirmed Wednesday. Brothman said the move was in response to a decline in elective surgeries, and to emergency room...

A Watsonville man was arrested Monday for alleged sex crimes involving a child, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office announced. Eric Martinez-Villanueva, 21, was arrested  without incident at his residence along the 10 block of Lassen Way, Monterey County Sheriff’s Commander Andres Rosas stated in a...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency Board of Directors on Wednesday voted unanimously to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and approve the College Lake Integrated Resources Management Project. “This project was ranked by the Basin Management Plan (BMP) Committee as one of the...

WATSONVILLE—The addition of a third fire station would not significantly improve Watsonville Fire Department’s response time to most neighborhoods, according to a 142-page report presented to the Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting. Fitch & Associates found that while a third station on the...

BOULDER CREEK—A 24-year-old Santa Cruz woman died late Thursday night in a solo-vehicle DUI crash in Boulder Creek. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said Chyanne Pilgreen, 21, of Ben Lomond was driving a 2004 Nissan Xterra northbound on Highway 9 north of Boulder Creek...

Jessica May Lowe made her second appearance in Superior Court Tuesday where a new date of Sept. 7 was set for further arraignment following psychological evaluation.

WATSONVILLE—A new mural against an exterior wall of the new Adult and Children’s Behavioral Health facility in the County complex on Freedom Boulevard is nearing completion.  Watsonville artist Bruce Harman said he started the massive work at the end of August and has squeezed in...