Local News

The past three years have been transformative for Watsonville Community Hospital, which was facing bankruptcy in late 2021 before a local group banded together to save it. Now under local ownership—and more importantly, back under local control—the hospital has seen a sea change in its...

More than 100 people lined up along Main Street in downtown Watsonville Saturday as part of a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump. Waving signs such as "Hands Off,” “Question Authority,” and “Only You Can Prevent Fascism” the crowd drew hoots,hollers and blaring horns...

Nearly two years after the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to end the contract of a company providing ethnic studies training for teachers and administrators, an almost entirely new board unanimously agreed to reverse that decision Wednesday. The one-year contract with...

Before the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, roughly 18% of Santa Cruz County residents lacked health insurance. After it was signed into law, that number dropped to 6%. But as the Trump administration continues to make cuts at the federal level to myriad social...

Flames tore through one of several buildings on the property of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton Sunday night, but spared the famed museum building. Felton Fire officials said the fire broke out around 10pm and destroyed a small cabin situated between the museum that...

Watsonville city on Tuesday reopened its landfill after a seven-year closure, unveiling two new areas that will give the city its own waste facility for about 75 years.  City officials hailed the opening of Cell 4—located at 730 San Andreas Road—as “a major milestone in...

Students at Aptos High Drama Production will present “Peter Pan and Wendy!” April 24-26 at their campus theater. The play features Jake Semb as Peter Pan and Lemoni Anastasopoulos as Tinkerbell in this reimagined take on a classic children’s tale. “This show is different from the...

Nearly one year after she took the helm of the county’s largest school district, Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Heather Contreras sat down with The Pajaronian to talk about her accomplishments, and the ongoing challenges facing the district. “It’s been a long year, but...

A grassroots movement of citizens concerned about the construction of a new battery storage facility in Watsonville held a public meeting on Monday evening to discuss the dangers of such a project and rally local residents by passing around petitions and encouraging citizens to...

John Kegebein demonstrates an early day, hand-pump vacuum at the Agricultural History Project's table during the annual Business Expo at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Thursday. “The businesses and people of the Pajaro Valley came together at the Expo to show what a fabulous...