Local News

WATSONVILLE—A group of students at MacQuiddy Elementary School got a special holiday treat last week.  Thanks to the efforts of instructor Amy McGee and others, 15 kids—all members of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Safe Spots program—were handed an armload of gifts Friday, including a...

Temperatures plunged into the low 30s Sunday night and into Monday morning. When I walked out onto my front yard early Monday frost had set in across the grounds. My neighbors’ roofs were frosty white. On Monday night the cold came back and the...

Joe Gregorio first set foot on the Watsonville High School campus in 1987 as an E.A. Hall Middle eighth-grade student, there to watch the freshman football team play. He had already attended Mintie White Elementary School, and went on to graduate from Watsonville High in...

Tarmo Hannula: There’s a slight chance of rain this evening, the National Weather Service said. But the big news is several more episodes of rain next week starting Tuesday and then picking up again late Wednesday through Friday. • Video footage and evidence recovered on the...

Watsonville firefighter Aaron Netzel sprays water on a fire in an abandoned structure on the 1900 block of Freedom Boulevard at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The FBI, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol is asking for the public's help in finding three missing children.

WATSONVILLE—A pickup truck driver sheared a utility pole on South Green Valley Road at Main Street Wednesday, causing a major traffic jam and power outages. Watsonville Police Department Sgt. Donny Thul said the male driver of a white pickup, towing a large soil disking tool,...

APTOS—Two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around, Twin Lakes Church Pastor Rene Schlaepfer and Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) CEO Willy Elliott McCrea were worried. The church’s annual food drive, which typically raises thousands of dollars for the food bank’s holiday, was falling short,...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) on Thursday discussed the future of the county’s rail line, and possibly setting it aside for future use while first focusing on building a bicycle and pedestrian path. In a report to the commission, RTC...