Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz METRO has increased its passenger capacity by 50% in an effort to accommodate more riders, but that decision has raised concerns within the union representing the bus operators still working during the Covid-19 pandemic. METRO CEO Alex Clifford announced on June...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County health officials identified 37 new Covid-19 cases—the county’s largest single-day jump since the virus started its spread—on Monday, increasing the number of new cases over the last eight days to 142. There are 216 active cases in the county, and...

The man accused of gunning down a woman and stabbing her ex-husband at their residence in the Aptos hills on Jan. 30 pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday during his second court appearance since his arrest.

SANTA CRUZ — More than 300 students, grades six through 12 from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, converged at the Baskin Engineering building at UC Santa Cruz Saturday to compete in the annual Math, Engineering, Science Achievement preliminary competition.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Thursday indefinitely extended the shelter-in-place order issued on March 31. She also closed the county’s beaches between the hours of 11am and 5pm. Both moves are meant to further reduce the spread of COVID-19 by...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Chief Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios told the Board of Supervisors Monday that it should spend $20 million in reserves to fill a deficit for the 2019-20 fiscal year caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. That move will be a sizable slice of...

WATSONVILLE—Every year during the month of October, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office sends daily statistics to local media, counting the domestic violence calls to which county law enforcement officials respond. It is a grim tally and a reminder during Domestic Violence Awareness Month...

SANTA CRUZ—A man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a large number of illegal drugs for sale Monday on the West Side of Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Narcotic Enforcement Team found Michael Rodgers in his car near Shaefer Road at Delaware...

APTOS—A man was taken to a Bay Area trauma center Sunday afternoon after the car he was in crashed into a ditch along Valencia Road, causing a collision that drove a large branch through the windshield. According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver of...

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office will retry the case of a man who was shot as he allegedly broke into an Aptos residence to burglarize it. The trial of Damien Welch ended in mistrial Friday when a single juror did not agree...