Sergeant retires after nearly three decades with Watsonville Police
A festive farewell lunch Dec. 21 set the tone for the final day of duty for Watsonville Police Sgt. Mike Ridgway as he set his sails toward retirement.
As part of the departure, a 911 dispatcher delivered a statement over the police radio: “This is...
$2 million grant for METRO will help launch Watsonville housing project
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District has received a $2 million grant that will be used to redevelop the Watsonville Transit Center into an affordable, transit-oriented housing development.
The funding will cover the architecture and engineering phase of the project, a process that will begin...
Watsonville Hospital board approves nurses’ contract
The Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board of Directors on Dec. 21 approved a three-year contract with its nurses, two weeks after the nurses’ union ratified it.
The approval came after six months of bargaining. Nurses say the contract helps improve patient safety by increasing...
METRO bus service changes underway
Big changes are now underway at the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO). As of Dec. 21, METRO is implementing bus service improvements as part of Reimagine METRO, an effort to increase service, adapt to post-Covid travel patterns and create a more useful transit...
Briefs: Rydell arts fellowships; local equestrians in Tournament of Roses Parade
Four awarded Rydell Visual Arts Fellowships
Four local visual artists have been selected by Community Foundation Santa Cruz County to receive Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship awards for 2024 and 2025.
The awardees are Christian Rex van Minnen, Louise Leong, Maria Isabel LeBlanc and Shirin Towfiq.
Each fellowship...
New mural adorns Hotel Paradox in Santa Cruz
A new 200-foot mural has gone up across the front of Hotel Paradox on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.
Artist Jeremiah Kille, who has completed scores of large-scale murals around town, Sacramento and elsewhere, finished the work in November.
The mural spans the front of the...
Fire at Circle Church possibly arson
Santa Cruz Fire Department investigators believe that a fire that broke out Tuesday inside the former Garfield Park Church was deliberately set, the department announced on Facebook.
According to SCFD, firefighters responded to multiple calls of smoke and flames seen at the now-closed church—also known...
Multiple shots fired into vehicle, two detained, gun recovered
Two suspects were detained Tuesday in Watsonville on suspicion of firing off a string of shots from a gun into a car.
Watsonville Police said the incident unfolded at the corner of Bridge and Secoya streets in the Vista Montaña housing complex around 2:30pm.
Multiple witnesses...
Campaign begins for Watsonville Hospital’s Measure N
The governing body that oversees Watsonville Community Hospital has brought the institution back from bankruptcy and the brink of closure since it gained control of the institution last year, and restored local control after years of corporate mismanagement.
But with a lasting $6.7 million debt...
Fighting cancer in Relay for Life
For the past four decades, people fighting cancer have gathered to strengthen that battle at the annual Relay For Life.
That event unfolded Saturday at...
