Community

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...

After 133 people died in Santa Cruz County in 2023 after overdosing on Fentanyl, the Sheriff’s Office has launched a new way to address the problem, with a special focus on the people who deal the dangerous drug. The Fentanyl Crisis Response Team includes five...

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...

MEET AND GREET - Watsonville Police officer Sergio Bañuelos converses with Micaela Henson, David Hernadez and their chill Melissa Friday outside the Police Department during the first Coffee With a Cop. The free, informal gathering serves as an arena for the community to engage...

Photo by Tarmo Hannula of The Pajaronian - An early-morning fire tore through a home at 41 San Juan Road in Pajaro Wednesday. North Monterey County Fire Division Chief Jess Cortez said no-one was injured in the blaze at the corner of Gonda Street....

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously approved a three-year contract for its new superintendent. Heather Contreras’ contract shows her start date of May 1. Her base pay will be $242,000 per year, with a 2% raise after one year,...

California road trips to the desert, the State Capitol, the San Joaquin Valley, the Bay Area or the Sierra foothills have been turning up a  bounty of rewards for my wife, Sarah, and me.  This was proven on our recent drive from Watsonville to Sacramento...

The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture has announced its annual awardees, including the man and woman of the year. Nita Gizdich was on her ranch Tuesday morning, and as usual she was working.  Although sweeping the driveway leading to her iconic pie shop was...

Barricades were recently taken down where Atkinson Lane meets Freedom Boulevard during construction of the new Tabasas Gardens homes (shown here). The lane had been closed to allow for construction for more than a year.

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...