Local News

Emergency workers team up to extricate a female passenger from a caved-in pickup on the 2900 block of Freedom Boulevard Friday. California Highway Patrol officer Michael Matildi said the male driver of a white GMC  Sierra Denali pickup was traveling north on Freedom Boulevard at...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The new year has brought with it larger-than-average absence rates as students throughout Santa Cruz County return to in-person instruction.  Since Jan. 6, there have been 1,387 positive Covid-19 cases out of roughly 16,000 teachers and students tested, a positivity rate of around...

MOSS LANDING—A big rig driver was arrested Thursday night after leading officers on a multi-county chase down Highway 1, following a hit-and-run collision in Santa Cruz. Alyssa Gutierrez of the California Highway Patrol said Santa Cruz police initially tried to pull over a white tractor-trailer...

WATSONVILLE—The first new candidate for one of several Watsonville City Council seats that will be up for grabs in this year’s general election has stepped forth. Kristal Salcido, an assistant district attorney for Santa Cruz County, announced on Jan. 21 that she will run for...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council granted an appeal filed by a local restaurant owner that sought to overturn a decision from Watsonville Municipal Airport management to deny a lease transfer to a new restaurateur. Airport Director Rayvon Williams in October of last year told Ella’s at...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to transition cases from the current public defender’s office to the newly minted Office of the Public Defender, which is slated to officially launch on July 1. The new office...

SANTA CRUZ—The man accused of multiple sexual crimes against minors will remain in jail after a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered him held without bail. Carlos Gomez Velasco, 39, has been charged with several felonies, including assault with intent to rape,...

WATSONVILLE—Two people were arrested after a lengthy probe from Watsonville Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit helped seize more than three dozen Fentanyl pills that officers believe were being sold throughout the region. WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said members from the agency’s SIU and neighboring law...

WATSONVILLE—Two minors and a 20-year-old man have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the October 2021 murder of 21-year-old Abel Ruiz. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said deputies arrested Juan Carlos Almaraz Rios and two other suspects, who are not being...

PAJARO—The Monterey County Planning Commission on Wednesday delayed adopting a mitigated negative declaration (MND) for a 60-unit housing project in Pajaro, to give County staff time to provide notice to the people who live near the proposed site. Residents have expressed alarm about the project,...