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Nearly three decades ago, 9-year-old Jessica Cortez and her brother Jorge, 16, were gunned down by gang members as they walked to a nearby panaderia on Salinas Road for a treat. Nobody has ever been arrested, and while police do not know why the gang...

A big rig carrying 40,000 pounds of printer paper toppled into a ravine on Highway 152 (Hecker Pass) just after 9am Monday. The California Highway Patrol said the male driver, who suffered only minor injuries, was traveling from LA to Watsonville for the PTS,...

Library accepting nominations for Youth Poet Laureate The Watsonville Public Library is accepting nominations for the new Watsonville Youth Poet Laureate.  The program’s primary goal is to recognize those under the age of 20 for their literary achievements with a commitment to and a passion for...

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...

Since June, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees has been considering a plan to retool its Visual and Performing Arts program at its 16 elementary schools, a proposal that includes splitting art teachers between most schools. The shift would be part of...

In the early days of the AIDS crisis, a group of local leaders went to school officials to offer HIV prevention education. The response they got showed them how much that education—and of LGBT issues in general—were needed. “They said, ‘you don’t need to do HIV...

WATSONVILLE—Within the next two or three years, crews will begin work on rebuilding the Pajaro River Levee, giving 100-year flood protection to residents beset by years of devastating floods, and putting an end to a chapter in a South County story most would agree...

With foundation work completed and now in its framing stage, 72 new affordable apartments by MidPen Housing are going skyward at 139-141 Miles Lane. The Watsonville City Council approved the development in 2020, a joint project between MidPen and Encompass Community Services, which is being...

President Joe Biden on Monday granted a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of California, a move that triggers the release of federal funds that could help the people and businesses affected by the series of winter storms that have ravaged the Central Coast...