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A day before the new school year started, with more than 16,000 students returning to class throughout Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Pajaro Middle School celebrated the reopening of the campus following major flood repairs.  When the Pajaro River Levee broke during heavy winter rains...

Elkhorn Slough, the vast natural area south of Watsonville that serves as a transition zone between land and sea and is home to myriad species of birds—as well as water and land animals—got a boost last week with a $6 million award. The money from...

The man who was shot when he reportedly charged at an officer with a knife after threatening to kill his 3-year-old stepdaughter has been released from the hospital, and booked into Santa Cruz County Jail without bail. Joshua Gonzalez, 25, now faces murder charges for...

A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence that the man who raped and killed 8-year-old Madyson (Maddy) Middleton in 2015 would pose a continued danger to the public if he is released. Adrian Jerry (A.J.) Gonzalez, now 24,...

A collection of images from the Watsonville Strawberry Festival from Aug. 2-4.

The City of Watsonville and a wealth of local businesses are gearing up for the sweetest event of the year, the annual Watsonville Strawberry Festival.  New among the myriad food and beverage choices this year is a strawberry beer by Watsonville’s Fruition Brewing, brewed with...

A work crew hauls a large boring machine out of trench at Riverside Drive and Blackburn Street in Watsonville  Crews have finished the roadwork for the College Lake Integrated Resources Management Project, which will provide a 30-inch water main to transport treated water from a...

On Aug. 14, about 400 students will return to Pajaro Middle School, more than a year after flood waters forced the campus to close. This includes seventh-graders who spent their first middle school year at a different school. On Friday, several workers were continuing to...

As summer wanes and the school year approaches, hundreds of families gathered in Watsonville Plaza Saturday to receive free new backpacks filled with school supplies. In hosting its annual backpack giveaway, the Salvation Army Watsonville Corps joined with the Red Cross, Community Action Board of...

Police on Sunday were looking for a man who escaped after leading them on a vehicle pursuit in a stolen pickup and a foot chase in Watsonville.  The incident began at Main Street at Freedom Boulevard around 10:30am when Watsonville Police Capt. Jarrod Pisturino spotted...