Community

The former Watsonville Meat Locker building — which later became Stevie G Meats — was a huge draw Thursday, but this time it was for something new: a pint of homemade beer inside a sparkling new brewery and taproom on Main Street. The Watsonville Public...

The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday voted to close the crosswind runway at the airport, a move city officials say will open up more of the city for development of housing and commercial space. Airport Director Rayvon Williams told the council that closing the shorter...

On Saturday morning, 48-year-old Gerardo Gutierrez was one of about a dozen men sitting in the day room at Salvation Army’s Watsonville location, quietly watching an old Vicente Fernández film playing silently on a television mounted to the ceiling. The men—most of them homeless—had stayed...

In the decade between 2013-23, volunteers and nonprofits picked up 439,358 cigarette butts from Santa Cruz County’s beaches and natural areas, accounting for a quarter of all litter found here. That’s according to Save Our Shores (SOS), a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that works to support...

The annual Obon Festival will take place July 21 at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple. Open to the public, the event will include entertainment, a vendor’s market, childrens’ games and an array of traditional foods. The festival culminates in a dance, known as Bon-Odori, which participants practice...

An 18-year-old Watsonville man was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of attempted murder.  Watsonville Police spokeswoman MIchelle Pulido said detectives served multiple search warrants linked to this case and arrested the suspect, Antwan Magaña. On Feb. 10, WPD Officers responded to reports of a shooting on...

Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board (PVHCD) Chair and former Watsonville Community Hospital CEO John Friel, who took the lead of the fledgling agency at its outset in 2022, died March 21 after battling an undisclosed illness.  Friel resigned from his position on March 19,...

Watsonville police arrested two men on July 3 after they were found with more than 4,500 pounds of illegal fireworks. The bust is the largest in Watsonville Police history, and the biggest on the Central Coast this year, police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. Luis Martinez and...

A 29-year-old Watsonville man died Thursday evening when he lost control of his motorcycle and smashed into a fence. California Highway Patrol officer Israel Murillo said officers responded to a report of a crash on Buena Vista Drive west of Bradford Road. The man, identified as...

The California Highway Patrol closed north and southbound lanes of Highway 1 in Soquel Saturday at 7pm to make way for Granite Construction crews to demolish the 1948 Capitola Avenue bridge above the highway. The closure and carefully crafted detour between Bay/Porter and Park Avenue...