Local News

Edward Lovell Jr. steps out of a small homeless encampment on Airport Boulevard in Watsonville one hot and sunny day with his friendly, frisky mutt Cotton on a leash. Lovell, 43, estimates he is one of about 20 people who stay in the unsanctioned encampment,...

A Caltrans worker helps clean up after a big rig smashed into a guardrail Monday on Highway 129 in Aromas. California Highway Patrol officer Fred Smith said the rig, carrying food goods, was traveling east on Hwy 129 around 1:15pm when he veered to...

A state nonprofit that aims to reduce and eliminate the use of dangerous pesticides on agricultural fields in California plans to sue the agency tasked with regulating them. The announcement came Tuesday during a press conference convened in Watsonville by Californians for Pesticide Reform. Mark Weller,...

WATSONVILLE—Yoni Espinoza says he was just 6 years old when his mother told him that they were going to go on a “long, long walk.” He says he had no idea the trek would be a three-day journey through excruciatingly hot days and numbingly cold...

WATSONVILLE—A little more than a year ago, Perla Pineda said she had a thought in the back of her mind that would not let her get a good night’s rest. “I felt like something else was calling me,” she said. She remembers waking up in the...

WATSONVILLE—Battling the pandemic for nearly a year now has spurned a wealth of creative avenues to keep Covid-19 at bay. From crafty outdoor dining patios, equipped with heaters, sun umbrellas and all kinds of tents and landscaping, to attention-getting homemade signage, face shields and...

WATSONVILLE—When April Ortiz became pregnant during her senior year at Watsonville High School, severe morning sickness and other complications sidelined her education. Then came the birth. “Mothering was a new life and a new experience,” she said.  Ortiz, now 26, received her GED on May 22 from...

SANTA CRUZ — The woman accused of stabbing her husband to death inside their residence in the Aptos hills in August is now allowed to see her children for supervised visits. That was the agreement reached Friday by prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case...

By Emanuel Lee, Hollister Free Lance Sports Editor Calling it the “document we’ve been waiting for,” Central Coast Section Commissioner Dave Grissom said the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) recent release in regards to youth sports gives him and the other 10 section commissioners...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police on Monday arrested a man suspected of a shooting Sunday night that left a woman and a teen girl in critical condition.  Detectives tracked down Raul Morales, 35, to Los Banos where he lived. The Merced County Sheriff’s Office and Los Banos Police...