News

WATSONVILLE—Since the state opened its Covid-related rental assistance program roughly a year ago, 889 Watsonville residents who have fallen behind on their monthly payments have submitted an application for help. But only around half of those people have received funds, putting them in a precarious...

Try this is a weekly column that celebrates local businesses — especially eateries, watering holes, coffee shops and the like. Tarmo Hannula Food Blaze Pizza I had a late lunch recently at a new (for me) pizza spot on the West Side of Santa Cruz—Blaze Pizza, 1901 Mission...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department is asking for help identifying a man who was caught on camera breaking into a warehouse and stealing computer equipment. According to WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, the unidentified suspect was seen dragging a ladder to the front of a building on...

WATSONVILLE—Eight people were injured in a three-vehicle collision near the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon. California Highway Patrol officer Alyssa Gutierrez said that around 4:15pm the driver of a 2021 Porsche Cayenne was traveling eastbound on Highway 152 near Holohan Road. For unknown reasons,...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday tabled a motion to make changes to the county’s animal welfare rules after organizations that run animal-based events expressed concern about the rules’ effects. The new rules would, among other things, have prohibited using live...

Surprised that federal health officials would this quickly recommend fully-vaccinated people can ditch their masks, Santa Cruz County health officials at a Thursday press conference said unvaccinated county residents will have to eventually walk a “tightrope” when deciding when it is safe to leave...

On Oct. 12, three abandoned puppies were found in the parking lot of a Watsonville church. They had been trapped in a travel carrier for an undetermined amount of time, becoming thin and malnourished, even having to eat their own feces to survive.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, died Friday morning in Phoenix, Ariz. of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. She was 93.  O’Connor, who was a close friend of the late Diane Porter...

Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested a Pajaro man for the murder of Watsonville resident Jesús Alfonso Duarte Figueroa, whose body was found buried along the Pajaro River levee in April. Bernardino Rickie Sanchez, 61, was booked into Monterey County Jail in lieu of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury has released the results of its eight latest investigations, which typically delve into the inner workings of county and city governmental operations. While the subjects of the investigations are required to submit responses, they do not...