Local News

In 2020, the CZU fires ravaged the Santa Cruz Mountains, destroying 1,490 structures and an untold number of trees. A little more than two years later, many of those downed trees washed down streams into the ocean and, during the storms in January and February,...

Note: Reporter Tony Nuñez contributed to this story WATSONVILLE—Thousands of Santa Cruz County residents living in the county’s northern reaches have been ordered to evacuate as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires have spread throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Temporary shelters have been set up across...

WATSONVILLE—Throughout the pandemic, Watsonville-based organization Arte del Corazón has been staging open-air art shows to showcase local artists.  The idea for the shows came from Monica Galvan, who has teamed up with other artists and performers to plan events at Romo Park on Main Street,...

WATSONVILLE—Drive-thrus got the green light at Tuesday night’s Watsonville City Council meeting. By a 5-2 vote the council rejected a 45-day ban on new drive-thrus, stating there is no current and immediate threat to public health, safety or welfare and that their approval should be...

SAN JOSE—Watsonville native Matt Mahan has been sworn in as mayor of Northern California’s largest city. The Harvard-educated 40-year-old businessman turned politician grew up on the outskirts of Watsonville in the 1980s and ’90s, just off Amesti Road near Pinto Lake. His mother taught at...

On Tuesday afternoon, Jana Tenant was in her backyard in the Bay Village senior community of Watsonville, a place she calls her “sanctuary.” But on this day—like many others recently—that sanctum was beset by construction noise. The rhythmic pounding from Bridge Street is from the ongoing...

WATSONVILLE—A pair of positive Covid-19 tests has shut down the Excel In Place program at the Environmental Science Workshop in Watsonville through its Dec. 18 end date. Watsonville Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib said two employees at that location on Second Street recently...

WATSONVILLE—A Greenfield Police officer was arrested early Thursday on charges of domestic violence. Christian Tapia, 27, was arrested at 8:03am and booked into Santa Cruz County Jail by the Watsonville Police Department on domestic violence-related charges that officers believe happened in Watsonville. The Greenfield Police Department...

Eight students in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District received a total of $32,500 from Soroptimist International of Watsonville at an awards banquet at Watsonville High School on May 22.