Local News

Watsonville firefighters chase down flames in a wild land blaze along the Pajaro River levee Monday around 3pm. Capt. Rick Pettigrew said the half-acre fire, which drew firefighters from North Monterey County Fire and Cal Fire, did not threaten any structures. Firefighters managed to...

WATSONVILLE—Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1716, which has served the local community of veterans since its inception in 1929, is facing closure after members failed to elect officers at a meeting in July. Member Paul Szemenciak says that, out of 116 members, just eight showed...

WATSONVILLE—A dozen bicyclists on the 13th annual Fire Velo bike ride rolled into Watsonville Monday afternoon for the first night of their week-long journey to Los Angeles. “We headed out of San Francisco yesterday,” said Julian Villavicengio, an EMT/firefighter with San Francisco Fire Department. “The...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—With the increase of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations due to the highly contagious Delta variant, the Santa Cruz County Health Officer is issuing a Health Order, effective Aug. 20 at 11:59pm, requiring all individuals to wear a face covering when in indoor...

WATSONVILLE—A new exhibit has opened at Pajaro Valley Arts’ (PVA) gallery in Watsonville, highlighting the artistic medium of metalwork. Presented by the Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild (MBMAG)—a local organization aiming to promote the form and local artists—the show, titled “Reflections,” includes a wide range...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The number of people contracting Covid-19 in Santa Cruz County is starting to slow, but the recently renewed mandate to wear masks indoors in public spaces is not going away anytime soon. Santa Cruz County health officials at a Thursday press conference told...

WATSONVILLE—Carol Vides walked away from a food booth at the Santa Cruz County Fair on Wednesday, her arms loaded with corn dogs and other fried food for her family. The bacchanalia of battered and breaded, along with roasted and sweet, lined the main avenue...

WATSONVILLE—Starting an event centered around comics, art, fantasy and the collectibles that those realms inspire was something Francisco “Paco” Estrada had first dreamed up when he was elected into the Watsonville City Council in 2018. The idea was, Estrada says, to give kids—and adults—a safe...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A man who police say stabbed his girlfriend to death at an apartment on Clifford Avenue in July was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail Thursday after being extradited from Arizona. Alberto Scalant, 33, is being held without bail. He has been charged...