Local News

Rickey Crawford, 34, has been charged with sodomy of a person under 18, oral copulation of a person under 18, rape, sex with a minor. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, jail records show.

WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville man suffered major injuries Friday morning after his motorcycle struck a vehicle while traveling on Highway 1. In the aftermath of the crash, a woman stole a purse from one of the vehicles involved in the crash, California Highway Patrol Officer Sam...

For more than three decades Ana Ortega has been making folks happy. As the owner of Ana’s Flowers, a modest flower tent adjoining the long-standing Capitola Produce, she has thrown her talent and keen eye into making dazzling flower arrangements for everyone from everyday passersby to grand-scale events.

Santa Cruz Police officers and firefighters on Tuesday responded to two deaths and one fire at the Gateway Camp, the sprawling amassment of makeshift tents, shanties and lean-tos at Highway 1 and River Street along the San Lorenzo River Levee.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—School districts throughout Santa Cruz County have passed out some 80,000 rapid-result Covid-19 test kits to families, as kids return to in-person instruction from winter break and officials try to prevent a surge via school campuses. As of Tuesday, officials have reported a...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) has introduced a number of new incentives aimed at attracting qualified bus operators to address an “unprecedented crisis in staffing levels” in public transportation. Thanks to a recent contract extension between METRO and the three unions...

Watsonville Police Sgt. Henry Robles is shown with Lynn Oliver-Gonzalez, vice chair of the Watsonville Police Assistance Fund, Tony and Becky Campos, and Officer Javier Ayala with his K-9, Axel, Tuesday at the Watsonville Police Department.

WATSONVILLE—Ballots have now been mailed out to roughly 3,000 people who own property in the Pajaro River floodplain, and the fate of a $400 million levee restoration project is in their hands. They must decide whether they support a property tax assessment that will pay...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The seventh annual Santa Cruz Gives holiday crowdfunding campaign raised more than $1 million for local nonprofit organizations in 2021. The milestone was reached after the campaign doubled in size, featuring 80 nonprofits on its online platform. Individual donors, matching funds, challenge gifts...