Egg drop tests amateur engineers
Area youths tested their engineering skills Friday in downtown Watsonville at the 2026 Egg Drop Challenge.
The 23rd annual contest celebrates National Engineers Week, which aims to honor engineers as well as inspire future generations to join the field.
Groups from local schools, community programs and...
Panetta tells businesses he’ll fight offshore oil drilling
Since November, local business leaders have grown concerned about the impacts that offshore oil drilling may have on the region’s economy, after the Trump administration released a plan proposing two sites off California’s central coast.
In reaction, advocates of local industries that rely on a...
Watsonville City Council hears traffic safety plan
The Watsonville City Council on Feb. 10 reviewed a draft Vision Zero Corridor Study aimed at reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries, particularly among pedestrians and bicyclists.
The proposal calls for several changes along Freedom Boulevard, including lane reductions, a traffic circle at Lincoln Street,...
Panetta secures $3.15M for Santa Cruz Wharf repairs
When the end of the Santa Cruz Municipal wharf was smashed by surging waves during storms in December 2024, representatives from Congressman Jimmy Panetta’s office called the city’s Parks and Recreation director Tony Elliot to offer help within about an hour.
Elliot said the speed...
Farmer’s Market manager Jesus Madrigal recognized
Watsonville Certified Farmer’s Market manager Jesus Madrigal was recognized at a Feb. 10 City Council meeting with a framed proclamation handed to him by Mayor Kristal Salcedo.
In addition to his work at the market, Madrigal also oversees the operation at Pinto Lake City Park...
Lofgren presents $1.2M check to boost vets building, $900K to Si Se Puede
The Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building serves as a meeting place for people who have served in the U.S. military and as a hub for medical, housing and social services.
But at 88 years old, the building is showing its age. The elevator is out of...
Padilla, Schiff secure $54M for Pajaro River Levee
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla announced Tuesday that he and Sen. Adam Schiff secured $54 million in federal funding for the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, aimed at strengthening flood protection for Watsonville and Pajaro.
The funding will go toward reconstructing failing levees along the...
Tony Nuñez announces run for county supervisor
Tony Nuñez is a Watsonville High School graduate who became a reporter and then editor of The Pajaronian and Good Times, and moved on to work with the nonprofit Community Bridges.
He later became an inaugural member of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD),...
Students learn the power of the vote at Civics Summit
On Friday, about 150 high school juniors from across Santa Cruz County cast their first ballots on three issues that, if passed, would dramatically...
