Photo: Fire burns near Pacific Firewood & Lumber
Towering flames reach into the sky at Pacific Firewood & Lumber, 2536 Freedom Blvd., Friday as a huge pile of timber burns. Fire officials said the blaze was triggered by spontaneous combustion sometime during the night. Firefighters around 8:30am said they would be on...
Watsonville Prep moves into downtown Gottschalks building
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s newest charter school has moved into its new permanent location in the old Gottschalks building at 407 Main St., three years after opening at E.A. Hall Middle School.
All of Watsonville Prep’s classes—spanning from transitional kindergarten to fourth grade—are now held in the new...
PHOTO: La Selva Beach home hit hard by fire
Aptos/La Selva firefighters attack a fire that gushed through the upper floor of a La Selva Beach home Monday afternoon.
Duty, Honor, Country: Watsonville celebrates its veterans
WATSONVILLE—With police vehicles leading the way—their emergency lights flashing bright in the late-morning sun—a squad of Boy Scouts, U.S. Naval Sea Cadets and military veterans marched down East Lake Avenue Friday to kick off Watsonville’s annual Veterans Day ceremony.
The parade ended at the Henry...
Big rig tears off hydrant, geyser erupts in downtown Watsonville
A powerful geyser of water blasted into the sky at Main and West Beach streets for more than five hours Monday after a big rig knocked over a fire hydrant just past 10am.
The stream of water gushing from the ground was so strong that...
Man arrested in Moss Landing fight
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 29-year-old Joshua Timothy Holtzclaw for voluntary manslaughter after the Sheriff’s Dive Team recovered a man’s body in Moss Landing Harbor Wednesday following a fight aboard a boat.
The body was identified as 26-year-old Trenten Paul Black of Aptos,...
Monterey County announces first coronavirus death
MONTEREY COUNTY—Monterey County health officials on Saturday announced the first death of a county resident that had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Officials said the victim was an “adult individual” who had an “underlying health condition” that made them more susceptible to the highly-contagious virus that...
Red-footed booby makes rare appearance in Santa Cruz
Note: Reporter Erin Malsbury contributed to this report.
After hearing about the arrival of an extremely rare tropical bird in Santa Cruz last week, I immediately texted an out-of-state birder friend.
“I’m so jealous I want to vomit,” they replied.
When avid birdwatchers see a species for...
EcoFarm bus tour rolls through Watsonville
The 39th annual EcoFarm Conference returned to Pacific Grove this week, and with it came the annual bus tour of local organic farms.
Body discovered during search for 73-year-old hiker
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office announced the discovery of a body in a densely-wooded area off of Ice Cream Grade on the north...
