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Watsonville
September 19, 2025

No injuries reported in Riverside Road garage fire

riverside road garage fire
WATSONVILLE—A large fire broke out in an attached garage that housed numerous vehicles late Saturday night on the 100 block of Riverside Road in Watsonville. Around 10:20pm, 911 dispatchers got many calls involving flames and a towering column of smoke emanating from an older style...

Police arrest 8, seize 6 guns in sweep

Eight people were arrested last week and six guns were taken off the street during a multi-agency operation focused on cracking down on gang violence. More than two dozen officers from the Watsonville Police Department, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, Santa Cruz Auto Theft Reduction...

Watsonville Hospital’s former owners ‘grossly negligent,’ face lawsuit

Watsonville Hospital
The former owners of Watsonville Community Hospital are facing a lawsuit alleging that they took more than $3.9 million for their own use, and that their mismanagement led the hospital  to bankruptcy and to the brink of financial ruin. Halsen Healthcare was removed from its...

13-year-old stopped with gun in Watsonville

watsonville police drug gun bust
A traffic stop on a driver who ran a red light Monday ended with Watsonville Police arresting four people, and seizing a loaded gun from a 13-year-old, 92 grams of cocaine and nearly 20 grams of marijuana. Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for Watsonville Police, said the...

Fairgrounds shelter for Pajaro flood victims closes

santa cruz county fairgrounds flood evacuation shelter
On Monday, Beatriz Lopez stood in the doorway of the Pajaro residence she shares with 10 family members, recalling the 45 days she spent in the emergency shelter at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Back home for just a week, she said the shelter was...

Briefs: County Fair seeks theme; Elks Lodge celebrates St. Patrick’s Day

santa cruz county fair goat
County Fair seeks theme The Santa Cruz County Fair announced the return of the annual fair theme contest. The fair invites the community to submit theme ideas that would reflect the spirit of the County Fair in a few words. The theme should reflect the spirit...

School arts funding bill among seven propositions on Nov. 8 ballot

In 2008, as the economic recession was ravaging communities nationwide, school districts were forced to take a close look at their budgets, and in many cases make massive cuts to preserve the meat of their programs. The first casualties of this across-the-board slashing were often...

Santa Cruz County Fair officials and volunteers focus on moving forward

Isabel Abuhadba Cartoon Poodles santa cruz county fair
Zeke Fraser has a lot on his desk, both figuratively and literally. He briefly stepped away from his paperwork-lined desk at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds late Wednesday morning for a quick chat about the upcoming fair, which opens on Wednesday. Vendors and performers were...

TODAY: Emergency alert test to cell phones, radio, TV

FEMA federal emergency management agency logo
At 11:20am today, anyone with a cell phone can expect an emergency alert from the federal government.  The alert is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission. The national test will consist...

Lengthy Salinas standoff ends, gunman killed

sirens
A nine-hour standoff with a barricaded gunman in Salinas ended Wednesday with the gunman being fatally shot after he reportedly shot a Monterey County Sheriff’s deputy.  Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced Thursday that Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Grant went to 29 Sun St.,...
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Watsonville’s Poet Laureate Bañales pens new book

Watsonville Poet Laureate, Victoria Bañales will read from her new book of poetry on Oct. 2 alongside four other local poets.  “The Sun Will Not...