Local News

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Fire Chief Rudy Lopez still remembers the day he and his son, Watsonville Police Sgt. Rudy Lopez Jr., responded to an emergency call together—a vehicle collision at Main Street and Green Valley Road. “My emotions overcame me,” Lopez Sr. said. “I was very touched.”  After...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A Pacific Collegiate School student and her friends are fighting for changes in the law after their friend and her brother were violently removed from their grandmother’s Santa Cruz home in October and taken to an undisclosed site to undergo court-ordered family...

Brianna Vasquez is a 13-year-old about to begin her 8th-grade year at Rolling Hills Middle School. As the days of her summer vacation wane and the academic year looms, many of her friends are enjoying their break. But on Thursday, Brianna was taking a different path....

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved a six-year lease with Greg Bobeda and Lacey Dent for the City’s vacant 3 Second St. location at the ground level of the Civic Plaza.

WATSONVILLE—This Friday the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) will present its Fifth Annual Día de Muertos celebration at Watsonville City Plaza.  The event will feature a screening of the Disney/Pixar animated movie “Coco,” as well as music, dance and artwork inspired by the traditional Mexican holiday,...

More than 200 people gathered Saturday in Watsonville’s Community Room to celebrate the life of Mas Hashimoto, who as a child was imprisoned with his family in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, and later used the experience as a lesson in...

SAN JOSE—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a San Jose man suspected of a fatal shooting that occurred on June 14. Albaro Amaral, 30, was charged with murder and attempted murder. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Main Jail in lieu of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A new campaign to showcase the environmental benefits of transit, encourage bus ridership and protect Santa Cruz County’s natural resources, kicked off recently in Santa Cruz.  “One Ride at a Time” launched a pair of METRO’s buses that are emblazoned with massive photograph...

The Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust (PVCHT) announced Thursday that it will not purchase Watsonville Community Hospital, after the organization failed to secure financing. The decision will allow Los Angeles-based Halsen Healthcare Group to make the purchase, PVCHT Executive Director DeAndre James said.