News

WATSONVILLE—On Tuesday morning, author, documentary filmmaker and Portuguese National Television correspondent Nelson Ponta-Garça was busy setting up a video camera in the Watsonville City Council Chambers.  He was there to interview Watsonville Mayor Jimmy Dutra for a special segment about Portuguese communities in California. The...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Community Bridges and Salud Para La Gente are joining forces in order to help individuals looking to get an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine.  Through Community Bridges’ (CB) bilingual Bridges to Access Vaccine Helpline and Salud Para La Gente’s vaccination clinics, the agencies...

WATSONVILLE—Aggressive base running and an explosive five-run fifth inning helped lead the Monte Vista Christian baseball team to victory against inner-city rival Watsonville High on Saturday. Armando Vasquez-Green batted 2-for-2 and notched two RBIs in an 8-2 win at home against the Wildcatz in Santa...

WATSONVILLE—Author Tony Di Leonardo was visiting the Watsonville Square shopping center when he first noticed Kelly’s Books. Walking into the small independent bookstore, he started chatting with owner Kelly Pleskunas about his debut novel, “Death by Drive-By,” which had just been released in December...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council will hold a study session on food trucks near the end of its Tuesday evening virtual meeting. The item was included in the meeting’s agenda released Thursday evening, but there was no staff report attached to it, causing confusion and worry...

WATSONVILLE—An inmate at the Rountree Medium Facility on the outskirts of Watsonville escaped Friday afternoon, leading to an intensive search that ended with his capture later the same day. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ashley Keehn said Christopher Dicochea escaped around 3:45pm from the correctional center on...

The new Arco gas station and adjoining am-pm mini-market opened Monday on Lee Road. Situated in the Pajaro Dunes Center between Riverside Drive and Beach Road the Arco, with nine pumps and 18 filling stations, shares the same lot with the new (but not...

In celebration of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s (MAH) 25th anniversary, the RedBall Project, a global art installation that has been to over 30 cities since 2001, is coming to Santa Cruz County. And now, after a countywide search by MAH staff...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Hearing calls from fellow commissioners to take a “timeout” so that deep divisions between Santa Cruz County residents about the proposed 32-mile coastal rail trail can subside, a push during Thursday’s five-hour meeting to reconsider the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—If Sunday’s Basin Fire is any indication of what 2021’s fire season will bring, San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit Chief Ian Larkin and the mountains surrounding Santa Cruz County are in for a bumpy ride this fire season. The roughly 7-acre blaze among the...