News

A 48-year-old Watsonville man pleaded no contest Wednesday to charges he was intoxicated when he caused a crash in 2021 that killed another man, prosecutors said. Israel Cruz pled no contest to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of driving...

When the Pippin Orchard Apartment complex at 56 Atkinson Lane was ready for occupancy in the fall, nearly 2,500 families applied, hoping to snag one of the 46 units.

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a proposal to lay off as many as 24 classified employees, a move district officials say was necessary due to declining enrollment. Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez told the board that the district has lost...

A suspicious bag left leaning against a California Highway Patrol vehicle in Prunedale Monday—which prompted a response from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad and the brief detainment of the man who left it—turned out to be nothing more than a lost computer bag. According...

SANTA CRUZ—The man accused of multiple sexual crimes against minors will remain in jail after a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered him held without bail. Carlos Gomez Velasco, 39, has been charged with several felonies, including assault with intent to rape,...

Greenway Capitola, a driving force behind Measure L and outspoken opponent of efforts to expand rail services in Santa Cruz County, is facing an investigation by state elections officials for inconsistencies with campaign financial filings.

Watsonville Police on Sunday used a newly acquired drone to capture a man in the act of allegedly burglarizing a marijuana growing business. Omar Cortez Ramirez, 40, was charged with first-degree burglary and resisting arrest. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu...

On Monday afternoon, a call came over police radio that emergency workers have become all too familiar with: a man had overdosed on Fentanyl and was unconscious.  Watsonville Police found the man in an alley behind a shopping center. They quickly administered Narcan, a drug...

WATSONVILLE—Sisters-in-law Araceli Gonzalez and Laura Espindola first had the idea to open their own business more than two years ago.  Both mothers with a passion for shopping, they wanted to open a shop full of products for young children and new (and expecting) mothers.  “We had...