News

PAJARO—Nearly 200 people have been rescued so far from the floodwaters in Pajaro, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said Sunday afternoon. Crews from the state’s emergency contractor are on site at the 120-foot breach in the Pajaro River Levee, as they prepare to shore up...

Floodwaters from the Pajaro River levee break reached northbound Highway 1 Sunday morning, forcing officials to shut down the highway at 9am. The northbound lanes of the highway are shut down from Salinas Road to Highway 129. As of 10:30am, the California Highway Patrol was preparing...

An estimated 100-foot-wide breach in the Pajaro River Levee has sent floodwaters into the community of Pajaro, forcing the evacuation of roughly 1,700 residents and causing untold damage to the homes, businesses and farm fields in the rural, agricultural community. On Friday crews were working...

The California Highway Patrol investigates a solo-vehicle crash on Holohan Road Saturday. Sgt. Atty said the male driver of a Nissan Murano SUV was traveling south at an "unsafe speed" when he lost control around 2:50pm. The Watsonville man, in his early 20s, careened...

APTOS—Beth McCullough and her son Journey Legen came to the emergency shelter at Cabrillo College in Aptos on Thursday night when the shelter in which they were hoping to stay in Santa Cruz filled up. Originally from Bakersfield, both are homeless. They were among 10...

SOQUEL—More than 1,000 Soquel residents are trapped in their neighborhood after raging waters tore away a huge chunk of Main Street early Thursday morning. According to Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin, the damage began around 3am, as Bates Creek, which flows under North Main...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville officials issued expanded evacuation warnings late Thursday night as floodwaters have shut down numerous streets in the city. The expanded evacuation warnings include E. Front and White streets south of Riverside Drive, and near the intersection of Green Valley and Holohan roads. The City of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The light rain that fell all day Thursday was “just the very, very top-tip of the iceberg” of a storm system expected to dump several inches of rain through Friday, says National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian Garcia. “We still have a lot to...

WATSONVILLE—After Pajaro Valley Unified School District Chief Business Officer Clint Rucker gave the Board of Trustees a budget update Wednesday night showing a positive certification—an indication the District can pay its bills for the next three years—the Board found itself at odds, sparring over...

WATSONVILLE—In the latest chapter in the drawn-out saga at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, a local group has created an online petition to remove Board President Don Dietrich. The petitioners say that Dietrich has shown a lack of leadership, and that he put the needs...