Remembering the fallen: community celebrates Memorial Day
For Michelle Martinez Kamalani and her mother, Judy Martinez of Watsonville, Memorial Day meant setting time aside to visit Valley Catholic Cemetery.
With an electric weed-whacker, a whisk broom, hand clippers and two bunches of fresh flowers, the pair wandered through the rows of flower-festooned...
Pajaro Valley Health Care Board Chair John Friel Dies
Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board (PVHCD) Chair and former Watsonville Community Hospital CEO John Friel, who took the lead of the fledgling agency at its outset in 2022, died March 21 after battling an undisclosed illness.
Friel resigned from his position on March 19,...
Carmageddon: Highway 1 closed for 24 hours
The California Highway Patrol closed north and southbound lanes of Highway 1 in Soquel Saturday at 7pm to make way for Granite Construction crews to demolish the 1948 Capitola Avenue bridge above the highway.
The closure and carefully crafted detour between Bay/Porter and Park Avenue...
Pajaronian joins donation campaign Santa Cruz Gives
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaronian this year has jumped on the growing digital giving movement Santa Cruz Gives, the first crowdsourcing website for multiple Santa Cruz County nonprofits.
The campaign, which launched for its fifth holiday season Wednesday, raises funds for 37 selected nonprofits via SantaCruzGives.org, where donors...
School bus bursts into flames after crash
Two people were injured Tuesday morning after a man slammed into a school bus holding dozens of students.
The collision on the 900 block of Green Valley Road north of Casserly Road at 7:30am caused the bus to burst into flames.
The driver, a 28-year-old male...
Watsonville High community reeling from 4 recent, sudden deaths
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School community is reeling from the loss of four staff members that occurred over the past nine months.
History and economics teacher Abel Mejia died on Sept. 16, and his brother Ruben Mejia, a biology teacher, died on Sept. 5.
Their deaths came after...
PVUSD abruptly fires superintendent
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday fired Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez after a closed-session meeting that delayed the beginning of the public session by more than two hours.
The decision came after a 4-3 vote, with trustees Jennifer Holm, Maria Orozco...
Fire damages business, spreads to surrounding fields
A fire at Bamboo Giant on Freedom Boulevard early Tuesday afternoon damaged a structure, spread into the neighboring field and closed the road in both directions.
According to CalFire spokesman Tony Akin, the blaze broke out just past noon. Firefighters were met with towering flames...
Kings Village manager Christopher Ow dies in motorcycle crash
Christopher David Ow, a member of the prominent Santa Cruz real estate family, died recently in a Southern California motorcycle crash, according to family sources. He was 54.
Ow was a property manager with Ow Family Properties and was the on-site manager at King’s Village...
With Measure M passage, PVUSD planning projects
Measure M, which will raise millions of dollars for construction, rebuilding and maintenance projects at each of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 35 schools has passed, and officials are starting to make plans for the money.
As of Friday, the measure garnered 57.5% of the...
Calles Libres returns to Watsonville after a 7-year hiatus
The public is invited to the Calles Libres (Free Streets) community celebration on the streets of downtown for a car-free festival honoring Día de...
