Judge: Watsonville airport must remove barriers
WATSONVILLE—A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge on Wednesday ruled that Watsonville Municipal Airport officials were in the wrong when they placed barriers at a business nearly three years ago that blocked access to the runways.
The Statement of Decision by Judge Timothy Volkmann means...
Advocates call for more transparency on pesticide use
CENTRAL COAST—When Melissa Dennis began teaching third grade at Ohlone Elementary School, she noticed that an unusual number of her students at the school in the rural Royal Oaks community just south of Watsonville had health issues.
She says she finds it alarming how many...
Elkhorn Slough Foundation acquires 34-acre wetlands
MOSS LANDING—The Elkhorn Slough Foundation recently acquired a key wetland property along Moro Cojo Slough, a major tributary of the larger Elkhorn Slough.
The 34-acre tract expands the foundation’s holdings in that area to 450 acres. The foundation has protected more than 4,200 acres of...
Photo: Next phase of giant Watsonville mosaic takes shape
The next phase of “Watsonville Brillante,” the massive mosaic project splashed across the exterior walls of the six-story Civic Plaza parking garage in downtown Watsonville, is currently being installed.
Lead artist Kathleen Crocetti added that the scaffolding and netting that covers the project will...
Events planned across Pajaro Valley for Fourth of July
As the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley slowly reopen after a year of closures due to the pandemic, a series of events have been scheduled to celebrate the Fourth of July.
While the city’s annual Spirit of Watsonville Parade has once again...
Watsonville’s Music in the Plaza series returns July 8
WATSONVILLE—On July 8 Music in the Plaza, an outdoor concert series started in 2019, will return to downtown Watsonville after a year of canceled shows.
Presented by the city of Watsonville in partnership with the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) and iHeart Media, the concerts are...
Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District running out of space
WATSONVILLE—Major work is underway at the Valley Public Cemetery to make way for hundreds of garden crypts.
The move is part of the Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District’s needed expansion to create more land for burials, said Bob Tanner, Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District Board...
Man who shot at traffic with slingshot sentenced to 15 years in prison
MONTEREY COUNTY—A man who used a slingshot to fire projectiles at vehicles driving on Monterey County highways between February 2019 and January 2020 was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in state prison, Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Matthew L’Heureux announced.
Charles Kenneth Lafferty, 54, pleaded...
Watsonville’s Environmental Science Workshop hammers on
WATSONVILLE—With the whir of a jigsaw in the background, the buzz of an electric kitchen mixer and the tapping of a hammer filling the air, Pajaro Valley’s young people were busy last week completing their projects at the Environmental Science Workshop on 2nd Street.
The...
Approved County budget includes ‘climate resilience’ office
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved this fiscal year’s budget, a behemoth $932 million spending plan that represents an 8% reduction in spending from the previous year.
That decrease came as the county recovers from the CZU Lightning...
Man arrested in levee death
Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested a Pajaro man for the murder of Watsonville resident Jesús Alfonso Duarte Figueroa, whose body was found...
