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Watsonville
March 10, 2026

Freedom man arrested for child sex crimes

Morgan Hill Police on Thursday arrested a Freedom man after he allegedly traveled to Morgan Hill to sexually assault a 12-year-old girl. Alexis Javier Mendez-Gallardo, 21, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of felony charges including rape of a child under 14;...

Pilots Association prevails on airport land use case

A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Watsonville violated state law when it approved housing development near the Watsonville Municipal Airport without first adopting required airport safety standards. In a 24-page decision issued Feb. 3, Judge Timothy Schmal sided...

Man arrested after wild chase

This story has been corrected from an earlier version. The chase did not go through Pajaro Middle School. A search for a wanted man with multiple outstanding warrants ended with his arrest after a chase that started in Pajaro and made its way into the...

Advocates warn of immigration scam

Legal advocates are warning the public about a multistate scam targeting the immigrant community, with some victims losing as much as $30,000. According to Claudia Abasto Rivilla, founder and executive director of Salinas-based Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN), scammers target Spanish- and Indigenous-language speakers using information...

Meeting highlights downsides of BESS facilities

Phoenix Artemisa (center heds up a public meeting Feb. 28 at Pinto Lake City Park about a proposed Battery Energy Storage System on Minto Road in Watsonville.
More than 150 people gathered Feb. 28 at Pinto Lake City Park to share ideas and information about a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) a few blocks away on Minto Road in Watsonville. The public meeting, hosted by Stop Lithium BESS in Santa Cruz,...

Protest of teacher layoffs continue

Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers and staff are joined by community supporters early Tuesday morning at The Towers in Watsonville to rally against teacher layoffs.
Several dozen Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers and staff were joined by community supporters early Tuesday morning at The Towers in Watsonville to rally against teacher layoffs that were approved on Dec. 11. PVUSD administrators declined to comment.  School districts typically cannot comment about ongoing...

New giant mural celebrated in Pajaro

Community Bridges and Hijos del Sol, a Salinas-based community art group, were part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Pajaro to celebrate the completion of “Life Transforms/La vida se transforma,” a 160 by 25-foot outdoor mural created in partnership with Pajaro residents. The mural took...

Students learn the power of the vote at Civics Summit

Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah addresses about 150 high school students at the start of the Santa Cruz Countuy Youth Civics Summit at Cabrillo College.
On Friday, about 150 high school juniors from across Santa Cruz County cast their first ballots on three issues that, if passed, would dramatically affect their lives. Measure A would lower the statewide voting age to 16. Measure B would prohibit the redrawing of state...

Update: Man arrested for DUI in Ace Hardware crash

A man suspected of driving while intoxicated was arrested early Friday morning after he reportedly lost control of his pickup and slammed into the front of the Ace Hardware store in downtown Watsonville.  Caught on security video, the white Chevrolet truck is shown coming around...

Housing voucher program at risk unless Congress acts

Hundreds of Santa Cruz County families could lose their federal rental assistance as early as December unless Congress restores funding to a pandemic-era housing voucher program, local officials warned Tuesday. The agency provides federally funded rental vouchers to nearly 6,000 households in Santa Cruz County,...
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A tow operator lifts one of two electric dirt bikes onto a flatbed truck after being stopped by Watsonville Police

Photo story: Two teens arrested after e-bike chase

A tow operator lifts one of two electric dirt bikes onto a flatbed truck after being stopped by Watsonville Police on Bridge Street Tuesday...