Local News

Robb Mayeda rings the Peace Bell at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple on Wednesday during a Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial ceremony.  The gathering pays respect to those that perished in the U.S. atomic bomb attacks on the two Japanese cities Aug. 6 during World War II 80 years...

The last chapter of the Redman-Hirahara house was written Tuesday when the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a staff recommendation to delist it as a historic resource. The decision will allow the property owner to eventually demolish the decrepit 128-year-old building, but not...

California Highway Patrol officer Israel Murillo poses for a photo with Sharan Farias and family members Tuesday during the National Night Out event at Pinto Lake County Park.  The event serves as a welcoming arena for community members to engage and get to know local...

Members of the community continued to push back against the introduction of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to Santa Cruz County at a community workshop on July 30.  The workshop—which more than 30 people attended–was held by the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment...

Thousands of people filled downtown Watsonville Saturday on day two of the three-day Strawberry Festival.  As the fog broke apart and blue sky took over, people were treated to live music, scads of strawberry-theme food and drinks, carnival rides, arts and crafts, an open-air beer...

Workers on Friday were installing 34 tiny homes that will be part of Recurso de Fuerza, a community meant to house homeless residents living on the Pajaro River Levee. The village in the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church at 118 1st St. in. Watsonville,...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing body on Wednesday took the first step toward allowing students to vote in district elections and help choose the trustees that represent them. The board voted to form an ad-hoc committee that will talk to students, families and community...

Watsonville’s Freedom Bakery—the oldest family-owned bakery in the Monterey Bay region—is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, marking five decades of providing the community with cakes and other desserts.  The bakery was founded in 1975 by Tony Liu, a Taiwanese immigrant who came to the...

A team of 60 volunteers that included children, teens and adults took gardening implements in hand on July 24 to plant flowers at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in preparation for the upcoming county fair Sept.10-14. “Our fairgoers always appreciate the bright colors and atmosphere...

On Tuesday, as most of their peers were enjoying the waning remainder of their summer breaks, several groups of young people were sitting in classrooms, as math teachers and professors showed them the fundamentals and formulae of the math skills they will need in...