Local News

WATSONVILLE—A three-phase, two-year project to beautify the lengthy median strip that divides the east and westbound lanes of Bridge Street will wrap up Thursday. Michael Johnson of Watsonville’s landscape water conservation program said the project began in 2019 at Bridge Street and Joyce Drive. It...

John Presleigh, director of the county’s Public Works department, announced that work on Soquel Drive, from Trout Gulch Road intersection to 200 feet south of Aptos Street intersection, will be closed between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday due to road repairs.

WATSONVILLE—A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in a 2019 Watsonville case.  Casto Luna, 41, a transient, was found in the area of Ford and Kilburn streets in Watsonville and taken into custody on Monday, Watsonville Police said. WPD officers and detectives assisted the...

Jacob’s Heart Family Center got an extra boost on Feb. 8 when members of the West San Jose - Campbell Lions Club delivered 200 art kits to the Watsonville center. Lion’s Club members Dave Kaplow and Gayle Kludt hand delivered the kits that included drawing...

After nine years, Wargin Wines will be moving its production and tasting room out of Watsonville—at least for the time being. The winery, which was established in December of 2012, was one of the first wineries to settle in the Pajaro Valley in recent years....

WATSONVILLE—As the Watsonville City Council prepares to weigh increases to its utilities fees to fund several high-cost repairs to city of Watsonville facilities, a wrongful termination lawsuit from an ex-employee who claimed the city misappropriated public money from one of its utility funds looms. In...

A military-grade ordnance is shown on the beach at Pajaro Dunes in Watsonville. The device washed ashore during recent heavy seas on New Year’s Eve, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said. As a precaution, the Sheriff's bomb team responded, deemed it safe, and...

WATSONVILLE—The man who was arrested on Dec. 22 on suspicion of robbing the Freedom Centre Rite Aid store in Watsonville at gunpoint 24-hours earlier has a lengthy history with local police. Raymond Quiñonez, in late 2001, was arrested after making a string of bomb threats...

A Watsonville man who last year arranged a meeting for sex with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and a 120-day suspended jail sentence. Valentin Rodriguez, 63, must also register for life as a sex offender. Rodriguez,...