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WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Board Chair Don Dietrich has resigned his post, and interim Fairgrounds Manager Kelley Ferreira has announced his departure, Board Director Nick Calubaquib confirmed Monday. Dietrich, who made the announcement to his fellow board members last week, did not return a call...

Watsonville City Councilman Jimmy Dutra was in Santa Cruz County Superior Court Tuesday, where jury selection began for his civil trial.  The trial is expected to last through Sept. 13, Judge Timothy Schmal told the mostly empty courtroom.  Dutra is accused of sexually abusing a boy...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials have replaced Watsonville High Principal Clara Fernandez, three years after she took the helm of the school. In her place, Chrissy MacLean will step in as interim principal, says interim Superintendent Murry Schekman. “MacLean was a teacher and Assistant Principal...

After delaying the discussion for two months, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved changes to the way its science and art programs are delivered in elementary school classrooms. Under the proposal, which was presented in June by then-Superintendent Michelle...

An 18-year-old man was arrested late Tuesday after Watsonville Police caught him street racing. Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for WPD, said a night shift officer was patrolling on the 500 block on Main Street when he spotted two cars racing. He was able to catch up...

Plans to build 624 units of affordable student housing on Cabrillo College’s Aptos campus got the green light Monday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to fund the project. The dual Senate and Assembly bills, both numbered 142, will provide $111 million for the...

The Circus has come to town, this time at Ramsay Park on Main Street in Watsonville.  Circus Royal Spectacular—out of Las Vegas—rolled into town Tuesday, and crews quickly began driving giant tent stakes into the softball diamond  to set up their mammoth bigtop tent. Circus spokesperson...

By TARA FATEMI WALKER SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) and its network of more than 70 partner agencies, including nonprofits such as food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, work hard to combat food insecurity.  But because of new requirements mandated by Senate Bill 1383,...

The 47-year-old man suspected of killing two people and injuring others early in the morning on Nov. 21 at a Pajaro bar was possibly acting in self-defense and may not face murder charges, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. Sergio Ramos Carranza turned...

Work is underway to bore a tunnel under Highway 1 in Watsonville, which is part of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake Water Supply pipeline project. The weeks-long tunnel job, just south of Riverside Drive, will not interrupt Highway 1 traffic flow, said...