News

PAJARO—The tiny town of Pajaro, nestled on the most northerly corner of Monterey County, just got its first pizzeria. Thanks to a dream of Pajaro native and resident Eric Ramirez, fresh homemade pizzas are prepared in-house and baked in a brick oven at Idle Hour...

SANTA CRUZ—Nearly seven years ago, a group of eight gang members gathered in a Main Street restaurant, where they socialized and drank before going outside to gun down a rival gang member at a nearby hotel in a planned attack. The victim, Ramon Rendon, died...

For years, Santa Cruz County lacked a youth crisis center, meaning that young people experiencing a mental health crisis were taken to overloaded emergency rooms, the county’s adult psychiatric facility or were shifted to out-of-county facilities, away from their families. That problem will end in...

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday will consider ways in which the bandstand in the center of Watsonville Plaza could be renovated, and what to do with the antique cannons. Built in 1906 by architect William Weeks, the bandstand is both a part of Watsonville's...

SANTA CRUZ—An Aptos woman who stabbed her husband to death during a domestic fight in 2019 pleaded guilty in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on May 18 to involuntary manslaughter. Amanda Owens also admitted to using a deadly weapon during the crime. She is set to...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz area California Highway Patrol has brought aboard a new Captain, Aron Ching.  Born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands, Ching moved to California to pursue a career with the CHP and has been with the department for 23 years.  His new...

Highway 1 was shut down for four hours early Monday when a dump truck slammed into the Freedom Boulevard overcrossing to Highway 1 in Aptos.  The California Highway Patrol said the truck was traveling northbound on Highway 1 at an unspecified time. The truck’s bed...

WATSONVILLE—If everything goes right, Independence Day will feature the first citywide in-person celebration in Watsonville since the start of the pandemic. That’s according to Watsonville Parks and Community Service Department Director Nick Calubaquib, who says that the city is planning to hold a “static” parade...

WATSONVILLE—Annrae Angel received an endorsement from the Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club for Superior Court Judge at Monday night’s meeting in Watsonville. The club, which includes five Watsonville City Council members, also endorsed Measures R and Y, as well as Zach Friend for Supervisor,...

CENTRAL COAST—Many Monterey County farmworkers are going to work despite testing positive for the novel coronavirus, and some of those laborers are doing so because they are concerned about losing their job, their pay or because their employer told them to. That’s according to the...