Local News

Watsonville Community Hospital could receive millions in emergency state funding under a budget measure signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom aimed at helping financially distressed hospitals avoid closure. The funding comes through Assembly Bill 108, an emergency appropriations measure that creates a one-time grant...

“Notice to vacate” fliers were handed out to a clutch of people Thursday at noon at a longstanding homeless encampment on Airport Boulevard in Watsonville.  Escorted by Watsonville Police, a property manager passed the notices to people to inform them that a clean up of...

The third-annual Pitch In All County Cleanup Day ran May 9 with over 100 organizations targeting litter between Davenport and the Pajaro Valley. Sally-Christine Rodgers, organizer for the local group Trash Talkers, said early results show 635 people participated in the massive clean up, that...

Housing advocates, city leaders and elected officials gathered May 8 to celebrate the groundbreaking of Evan Circle, a new 13-home affordable housing development in Watsonville.  The project by Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay is intended to help the city meet affordable housing goals. Keynote speaker Congresswoman...

One of the candidates for the hotly contested 4th District seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, Felipe Hernandez, has filed his financial statements late for three years, a violation of campaign law. According to Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber, Hernandez submitted...

On Tuesday, Pajaro Valley High School junior Valeria Melgoza-Ortiz was busy riveting the tail section of an airplane that one day next year will take her into the skies above Watsonville. Melgoza-Ortiz is one of 22 Pajaro Valley High school students enrolled in the school’s...

Watsonville residents spread out along the Salsipuedes Creek levee easy Saturday morning to collect trash as part of the third Annual Pitch In All County Cleanup Day, which is organized by the Trash Talkers. Over 100 organizations joined forces to help with cleanups from Davenport...

Watsonville leaders, state officials and community members gathered Thursday afternoon at City Plaza to celebrate the start of a long-awaited revitalization project aimed at preserving the historic downtown gathering place while expanding its use for future generations. The project, which city officials said is expected...

Olive D. Wilson discovered her love for writing early in life, chronicling her thoughts, experiences and ideas the way many writers do. Over time, that practice evolved. What emerged from that reflective work, she realized, was both a story that needed to be told and...

Santa Cruz County officials on Tuesday opened public hearings on a proposed $1.29 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, warning that federal funding cuts, rising labor costs and growing structural deficits are forcing difficult financial decisions in the years ahead. The recommended budget includes...