Suspected church arsonist arrested
WATSONVILLE—Police have arrested a man suspected of starting a fire in St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish that caused $100,000 in damage.
Alberto Melgoza, 36, is also suspected of setting a fire at Ave Maria Memorial Chapel in June, Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.
Melgoza was arrested...
County artist turns city street into colorful gallery
Santa Cruz County’s shelter-in-place order hasn’t put a lid on Santa Cruz artist Janas Durkee’s creative energy.
Recently the Pacific Coast Charter School art teacher took her skills out of her studio and onto the street, turning the sidewalk in front of her home into...
Santa Cruz Fairgrounds welcomes first-of-its-kind festival
Colin Disheroon would like to “change the story around cannabis” in any way he can.
Harbor Freight opens doors
Dozens of customers on April 6 were browsing the aisles of Harbor Freight, Watsonville’s newest hardware store.
Man arrested in levee death
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...
Destroyed Highway 1 in Big Sur could reopen by summer
MONTEREY COUNTY—Major emergency repairs of Highway 1 on the Big Sur Coast began Monday.
Colin Jones of Caltrans said heavy rains caused a massive debris flow from the Dolan Fire burn scar and washed out a 150-foot section of roadway Jan. 28. The gaping bite...
City’s water system needs more than $100M in upgrades, repairs
WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is staring at more than $100 million of much-needed improvements and additions to its water system over the next 10 years.
That’s according to the Water System Master Plan, a first-of-its-kind project the Watsonville City Council approved in April 2019 and...
Six injured in head-on collision
Five people were injured after a collision on Maher Road in Royal Oaks on Wednesday.
Crashes cause major backup
Traffic on northbound Highway 1 north of Watsonville is clogged due to two crashes on the highway Wednesday morning.
One East Lake Avenue crash victim identified
One of the teen victims killed in a two-car crash just outside Watsonville Sunday night has been identified as Carlos Angeles from Soquel. His...
