News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Watsonville man arrested last month for allegedly killing his stepdaughter 16 years ago in Florida has died after severing the femoral artery in his leg while in jail and suffering hemorrhagic shock, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said Tuesday. Raul...

I sure welcome the cooler weather. Heavy fog rolled in Sunday afternoon in Santa Cruz and hung around through the morning, dropping temps significantly from the past several days. The sun broke through in Watsonville for part of the day but the fog won...

It has not been an easy harvest season for California apples. When temperatures shot up into the 100s in August and September, sparking wildfires across the state and harming numerous agricultural commodities, apples were one of the hardest-hit crops. The fruit is susceptible to...

WATSONVILLE—The man suspected of murdering his wife in their Watsonville home last week has likely fled to Mexico, Watsonville police said Monday. Cesar Hernandez, 47, allegedly murdered 24-year-old Brenda Elizabeth Becerra and then left her body in a Ford SUV on Mission Drive in Santa...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville recently released a survey that aims to gather the community’s opinions, questions, concerns and dreams about the city’s downtown corridor. The survey will help guide the City while it develops the Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan, which will serve as a blueprint...

Signage for the new Staff of Life Natural Foods Market has gone up at the front of its new location in East Lake Village Shopping Center in Watsonville. Clark Codiga, who manages the center and many other properties around town, said the store, with...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a series of 11 expenditures at eight schools aimed at preparing for students to return to class in January. The projects include upgrades to heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems (HVAC), and window...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police are searching for a man who they believe is the primary suspect in his wife’s murder. Police believe that Cesar Hernandez, 47, murdered his 24-year-old wife at their Watsonville home on the 700 block of Rodriguez Street, and then drove her in the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials are mulling a plan to retool the county’s public defender’s office, transitioning from its current private delivery system to a public one. The move comes as the county’s contract with Biggam, Christensen and Minslof (BCM)—which has provided indigent criminal...

Editor’s note: This is the third entry in a series that will break down the California Propositions going to voters in the Nov. 3 election. To read the first entry click here, and to read the second entry click here. California voters will make a...