57.7 F
Watsonville
December 25, 2025

Work underway to strengthen levees and prepare for winter rains

pajaro river levee repair
Next year, work crews will kick off a $400 million project to rebuild the levees in South Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties and keep the rivers and creeks from escaping and devastating the surrounding communities. That long-anticipated work will be a relief to the...

Watsonville Hospital to get financial help

Watsonville Hospital
Watsonville Community Hospital is one of 17 medical facilities in California that will receive immediate multimillion-dollar financial assistance in the form of zero-interest loans from the State of California. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced the $300 million Distressed Hospital Loan Program. Locally, this includes...

Off the beat: Watsonville Police Capt. Tony Magdayao retires

Note: Reporter Tarmo Hannula contributed to this story WATSONVILLE—After nearly three decades with the Watsonville Police Department, Capt. Tony Magdayao has dipped his toes into the quiet waters of retirement. Magdayao was 30 when he joined the department, closing a career that began when he was...

Watsonville teen is County Board of Education’s first student trustee

santa cruz county board of education faris sabbah oscar alvarez-delgado
After decades of making decisions that affect the lives of students throughout Santa Cruz County, the County Board of Education on Thursday inaugurated its first student trustee. Oscar Alvarez-Delgado, a 17-year-old senior from Pajaro Valley High School, was chosen from five applicants.  Santa Cruz County Office...

New documentary showcases Annieglass on 40th anniversary

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Forty years ago, artist Annie Morhauser arrived in Santa Cruz County with a passion for glass and a dream to succeed. After graduating from the California College of the Arts with a degree in glassmaking, Morhauser set up shop in a small, 400-square-foot...

Earthquake shakes Watsonville, Bay Area

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake was reported in San Benito County on Tuesday afternoon and could be felt in parts of the Bay Area. The quake was reported at 3:23pm April 4 and was centered about five miles northwest of Hollister and 19 miles west-southwest of Salinas,...

‘Reunification’ therapy sparks call for change among teens

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A Pacific Collegiate School student and her friends are fighting for changes in the law after their friend and her brother were violently removed from their grandmother’s Santa Cruz home in October and taken to an undisclosed site to undergo court-ordered family...

High surf pummels coastal Santa Cruz County

capitola village high surf
Massive surf pummeled coastal regions of Santa Cruz County, leading to evacuations, road closures and damage Thursday.  High waves surged into Capitola Village, knocking over signs and benches, tearing open business fronts and cluttering the Esplanade with mountains of driftwood, sand and debris. Mary Ann Orr,...

Watsonville Police seize three guns in five days

guns arrest watsonville police
WATSONVILLE—In a span of five days Watsonville Police seized three guns and made three arrests in Watsonville, said Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for WPD. On Wednesday a suspect pulled a gun on a man at a shopping center on the 1200 block of Main Street around...

Nonprofit aims to reduce & eliminate dangerous pesticides, impose buffer zone around schools

A state nonprofit that aims to reduce and eliminate the use of dangerous pesticides on agricultural fields in California plans to sue the agency tasked with regulating them. The announcement came Tuesday during a press conference convened in Watsonville by Californians for Pesticide Reform. Mark Weller,...
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PV’s Lara-Alvarez named Santa Lucia’s top player | All-PCAL football

In 2024, Pajaro Valley senior Benito Lara-Alvarez was primarily on the defensive side of the ball for the Grizzlies. Prior to the start of this...

ICE becomes an autocratic tool