Officers balancing enforcement, education of COVID-19 orders
Additional reporting by Todd Guild
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—With the onset of warmer, sunny days, droves of people have been showing up at area beaches and parks, especially on weekends, even as the shelter-in-place order has hit day 41.
And beginning April 25, Santa Cruz County also...
Soquel man arrested for child sex crimes
SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a Soquel man suspected of more than a dozen counts of sexual assault of a child.
Luis Ortiz, 59, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley...
Two arrested for weapons, drug charges
RIO DEL MAR—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Monday arrested two men for drug and gun charges after one of them pointed a loaded gun at another driver in a road rage incident.
Damian Hernandez, 20, and Israel Ibarra, 18, both Morgan Hill residents, were...
New safety center to open in Aptos
A new mid-county safety center will open in the new Aptos Village development in early 2019, county officials announced.
Dominican Hospital gets $1M donation for workers
SANTA CRUZ—Dignity Health Dominican Hospital announced Monday that it has received a $1 million donation, which will be dispersed to hospital employees who have helped fight the coronavirus.
The anonymous donor is a “long-time friend” of the hospital who wanted to thank the workers specifically...
National leadership award lands in local hands
Gina Castañeda, who founded Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy, received this year’s Kim Crabbe Game Changers Award from the U.S. Soccer Federation.
She received the award in Atlanta, Georgia Saturday for creating Aztecas in 2008 and for being a driving force behind a wealth of local...
Police warn of porch pirates, offer tips to stop them
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police are warning the public to be on the lookout for holiday package thieves, and are suggesting a few simple safeguards to stop theft.
The issue came to the forefront this holiday season when a resident recorded a daylight burglary from her Watsonville residence...
New exhibit at Aptos Library features animals to abstracts
Eighteen artworks by Watsonville artist Sefla Joseph are now on exhibit at the Aptos Public Library, along with a show by Aptos artist Diane Levin.
Spread around the facility, Joseph’s works include abstract portraits done with charcoal, chalk, and ink and paintings in acrylic/mixed media...
Former Rodeway Inn to become 120-bed residential treatment center for Janus of Santa Cruz
A former Watsonville hotel is set to be converted into a 120-bed residential treatment facility for men, significantly expanding substance use disorder treatment capacity in Santa Cruz County.
Janus of Santa Cruz officially received the keys on March 9 to the former Rodeway Inn property...
PVUSD Trustees mull religious observance
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday heard the first reading of a new district policy which, if adopted on second reading on Sept. 28, would add several religious holidays during which district officials and teachers would not schedule events.
PVUSD...
