Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project (PVHD) announced Thursday that Watsonville-based berry company Driscoll’s will donate $1.75 million to help save Watsonville Community Hospital.   PVHD is currently fundraising in order to meet a July 1 deadline in order to purchase the hospital. In late May,...

CASTROVILLE—Two large signs along Merritt Street just east of Highway 1 in Castroville now mark the site where, by spring of 2022, a new education and outreach center for Hartnell College will serve students throughout North Monterey County. The signs, installed Dec. 5, are also...

Thousands of heritage trees have been cut down in the county since 2000, according to the Sierra Club of Santa Cruz County.

Filmmaker and Watsonville High School alumnus Gabriel Medina already has several independent Hollywood-level movies on his resume, with various roles including writer, producer and director.  He recently earned his MFA from University of Southern California’s famed Peter Stark Producing Program, and has now returned to...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police have arrested a 17-year-old City of Watsonville employee on sexual battery and false imprisonment charges involving at least two teen girls that allegedly occurred in 2017, prior to his employment with the city, spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.  The suspect, who is not being...

Sister Julie Hyer, OP, former CEO of Dominican Hospital for more than 22 years, and former CEO of Salud Para La Gente for two and a half years, delivered a donation of $25,000 on Feb. 28 to Salud on behalf of Lifeguard Charitable Fund to support oral health for children and their families.

Linda Martin first person to hold position in decades.

WATSONVILLE—A newly-hired Watsonville Police Officer was arrested Aug. 20 in an off-duty incident in South Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Tyler Leroy Stephens is accused of physically assaulting a man and vandalizing two slot machines.   The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said that Stephens called 911, saying he...

WATSONVILLE—Ella’s at the Airport will indeed change hands after the City of Watsonville and owner/operator Ella King came to an agreement on a five-year lease that is set to be transferred to new owner/operator Chielo Apac. The Watsonville City Council approved the lease and transfer...

About three years ago, the Pitch-In Initiative was created with a singular mission: to make Santa Cruz the cleanest county in California. That mission was realized Tuesday, when the County of Santa Cruz announced its designation as a Clean California Community, a recognition that “highlights...