News

Patricia Gospodnetich Solano, a lifelong Watsonville resident who raised five children and variously worked as a teacher, a telephone operator and a legal secretary, died Monday after an illness. She was 78.

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...

SOQUEL—An early morning fire on Sept. 1 tore through a section of the popular Soquel restaurant, Michael's on Main. Fire Marshal Mike DeMars of Central Fire said the flames broke out around 4:30am and caused heavy damage to part of the restaurant, including a prep...

WATSONVILLE—Yoni Espinoza says he was just 6 years old when his mother told him that they were going to go on a “long, long walk.” He says he had no idea the trek would be a three-day journey through excruciatingly hot days and numbingly cold...

CASTROVILLE—Three men were killed and another was injured by gunfire early Monday in Castroville during a party that spilled out onto the streets. On Tuesday the victims were identified as Julian Gallegos, 30, Jeff Robles, 21, and Juliani Robles, 21—all of Salinas—according to the Monterey...

Popular mid-county Mediterranean restaurant expands to Watsonville WATSONVILLE—Earlier this month, Zameen at the Hangar celebrated its official soft opening—quietly, and with little fanfare. This was a deliberate move, said restaurant owner Ed Watson. “We wanted to get people in gradually,” Watson said. “To make sure we knew...

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) will receive an additional $13.5 million of emergency funding through the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act. Approved by Congress in December of last year along with the $1.4 trillion spending bill, the CRRSA Act...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council granted an appeal filed by a local restaurant owner that sought to overturn a decision from Watsonville Municipal Airport management to deny a lease transfer to a new restaurateur. Airport Director Rayvon Williams in October of last year told Ella’s at...