News

CAPITOLA—A new branch of Outdoor Supply Hardware (OSH) is slated for a Jan. 6 opening in the former Orchard Supply Hardware store on 41st Avenue. Ryan Odell, store manager at the Napa OSH branch, said the company will run a soft opening in the first...

WATSONVILLE—Following the tremendous success of the first-ever Holiday Lights Drive-thru at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds during Christmas, the 2021 Drive-Thru Crab Feed proved to be another booming hit Saturday. Fairgrounds Foundation spokesman Ron Haedicke said they sold out all 472 meals in the inaugural...

PAJARO VALLEY—Long-standing realtor Renee Mello was recently named Realtor of the Year for 2021 by the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors. A broker associate with Keller Williams, Mello, a third-generation Watsonville native, said she was stunned and “truly honored” to have been picked out...

WATSONVILLE—A man and woman were found dead inside a van parked in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn in Watsonville on Tuesday afternoon. Watsonville Police Department Sgt. Juan Trujillo said police were dispatched to the Rodeway Inn on West Beach Street near Highway 1...

PAJARO VALLEY—Diane Porter Cooley, whose family history dates back to Santa Cruz County’s infancy, and whose conservation efforts of both farmland and forest helped build the underpinnings of the county’s environmental ideology—and reshape the way the nation viewed agricultural land protection—died Thursday in her...

WATSONVILLE—A 28-year-old man was shot on March 19 on the 100 block of Marin Street. Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said the man was shot around 4:30am. No arrests have been made. Pulido said the victim is in stable condition and is expected to survive the...

PAJARO—People living in south Santa Cruz County and north Monterey County could soon see Pajaro River’s levee system rebuilt, a long-awaited project that would offer up to 100-year flood protection to the area, and be a comfort to residents who have been beset by...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Councilwoman Rebecca Garcia has a warning for her fellow South County residents: beware of scammers posing as PG&E employees.  Garcia says she fell victim to a scam and was cheated out of nearly $300. She recently received a call with a recorded message telling...

WATSONVILLE—A husband and wife duo, who together spent more than six decades in education and several more years in public service and volunteerism, has been given this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. Lowell Hurst, who has served...

CALIFORNIA—Vincent Marquez will be the first to say he has not led a perfect life.  He is in Soledad State Prison for a 2008 burglary conviction, serving sentences totaling more than four decades that could keep the 65-year-old incarcerated until 2041. But he hopes to change...