News

WATSONVILLE—A man was seriously injured Saturday afternoon when his motorcycle plowed into a jeep SUV on Harkins Slough Road in Watsonville.  Watsonville Police Sgt. Mike Ridgway said the man was riding a Suzuki motorcycle southbound on Harkins Slough road around 3:30pm. A man driving a...

SCOTTS VALLEY—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday arrested a Live Oak man suspected of using credit and bank cards stolen from a firefighter’s truck to make thousands of dollars in purchases. Brian Lee Johnson, 37, has been charged with using stolen credit cards, receiving...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered a statewide closure to indoor services in restaurants, theaters, wineries, museums, zoos, card rooms and family entertainment centers. Bars must cease all operations.  In addition, 30 counties on California’s county watchlist must also shutter their churches, gyms, malls, hair...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—One week after firefighters contained the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, which scorched 86,509 acres and destroyed 1,565 structures in the Santa Cruz Mountains, county officials had a dire prediction for the coming winter months. Heavy rainfall unable to soak into the fire-damaged soil...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz man who shot a male victim to death in 2018 was sentenced on Oct. 6 to 35 years to life in state prison. Miguel Castañeda, 43, was convicted in May of killing Victor Vasquez Lopez, 36, of Santa Cruz.  The dispute that...

WATSONVILLE—California State Senator John Laird joined forces with the California National Guard and the Second Harvest Food Bank Friday during a food distribution at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. “This is an unprecedented private and public partnership with a huge helping hand from the State...

Nearly three decades ago, 9-year-old Jessica Cortez and her brother Jorge, 16, were gunned down by gang members as they walked to a nearby panaderia on Salinas Road for a treat. Nobody has ever been arrested, and while police do not know why the gang...

WATSONVILLE—David Toriumi, who ran his eponymous auto repair shop in Watsonville for nearly four decades–starting in a one-bay shop behind his home before expanding to the garage at 38 Menker St.—and who coached generations of young people after discovering an affinity for sports at...

In 2021, biotech company Blume Industries (BI) and Whiskey Hill Farms (WHF) became recipients of The Farmer Rancher Grant, a major grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Western Division of Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). The grant aims to support farmers and...