News

A booming explosion atop a utility pole knocked out power and triggered a fire Friday on Riverside Drive in Watsonville.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department is asking for help from the community to find a driver who struck and seriously injured a woman early Sunday morning before fleeing. The crash occurred just before 5 a.m. on the 1000 block of Freedom Boulevard. The victim, who is in...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz woman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of using social media to sell vape products and alcohol to minors. Martha Espinoza, 41, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail, but was not in custody on Thursday morning, jail records showed. The Santa Cruz...

The exhibition, “Pictures from the Field: The Caminata in the Summer of 1975,” is an offshoot of “Democracy in the Fields,” which debuted at the National Steinbeck Center in 2016.

PLEASURE POINT—The man found dead late Tuesday morning in a vehicle in the Santa Cruz Mountains has been identified as Tushar Atre, who was kidnapped from his Pleasure Point home about seven hours earlier. Atre, 50, was taken from his upscale oceanfront home about 3...

Charles Lafferty, the man arrested last week in the bizarre case regarding numerous vehicles being struck by projectiles over the past 11 months in Prunedale, made another court appearance in Salinas Monday. The Monterey County District Attorney's Office said Lafferty is now facing 79...

WATSONVILLE—Felipe Hernandez and Ari Parker have established large leads on their respective competitors and will likely capture key political seats in South County, updated results released Wednesday by the Santa Cruz County Elections Department show. Hernandez, a former Watsonville mayor and current member of the...

Watsonville City Attorney Alan Smith, who has held the position for 25 years, has announced his retirement and plans to work through December, City Manager Matt Huffaker confirmed Friday.

By Patricia Cohen, of The New York Times New claims for unemployment fell last week, the government reported Thursday, the latest sign that the labor market’s recovery, however slow and unsteady, is continuing. “The numbers look encouraging on the face of it,” said Gregory Daco, chief...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville pilots, and the city’s municipal airport, are asking for help after several aircraft were struck by laser light. The phenomenon, known as laser strikes, occurs when someone on the ground points a laser light at a pilot. It is a federal offense, with five years...