Local News

As he drove under the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge spanning Highway 1 Wednesday, CalTrans structural engineer Jorge Uberhuaga pointed to the wooden framework he described as a “bridge to build a bridge.” After installing the rebar skeleton, workers will soon begin pouring cement that...

WATSONVILLE—Juan Herrera has been keeping busy since he graduated from Watsonville High School (WHS) in 2021. After landing a job with K&D Landscaping while still in school, Herrera rose up through the ranks, starting in the maintenance crew and finally working on larger residential and...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a Soquel man suspected of more than a dozen counts of sexual assault of a child. Luis Ortiz, 59, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. According to Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley...

Six decorated wooden frames were installed around Watsonville Saturday in the city’s grand opening of “Outside the Frame,” an effort from the county’s four mayors, County Parks Friends and Santa Cruz County Parks. Watsonville Mayor Jimmy Dutra led a group of three dozen people...

WATSONVILLE—A new outdoor mural is taking shape thanks to three local artists and the backing of a business owner at the heavily traveled intersection of East Lake Avenue and Brennan Street. Jessica Carrasco, Mateo Gonzalez (aka Primo) and Paul De Worken started work on the...

When the end of the Santa Cruz Municipal wharf was smashed by surging waves during storms in December 2024, representatives from Congressman Jimmy Panetta’s office called the city’s Parks and Recreation director Tony Elliot to offer help within about an hour. Elliot said the speed...