Local News

WATSONVILLE—During a busy night with a loaded agenda, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved plans to boost internet access throughout the city, hire a nurse to coordinate the district’s Covid-19 response and use grant money to purchase an...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School’s new principal is Maria Clara Fernandez, who graduated from that school in 2001, Pajaro Valley Unified School District announced Tuesday. Fernandez worked with Pajaro Valley students from 2000-11 in the After School program, in Migrant Education and as an elementary teacher. She...

Smoke from the CZU August Lightning Complex fires has been really bad most of the day. We got something of a break Monday and Tuesday, with blue sky dominating the weather picture. Maybe the wind shifted? I spoke with several people in Watsonville and...

The Pajaro Valley Historical Association will host their Annual Vintage Picnic July 1 that will showcase World War II.

The new 80-unit housing development at 78 Atkinson Lane in Watsonville by MidPen Housing is moving skyward. Situated between Atkinson Lane and Brewington Avenue, the development is the second phase of the nearby Pippin Orchards. The project, part of a multiphase development plan approved some two...

APTOS -- Emergency officials responded to a solo-vehicle crash on Highway 1 at Freedom Boulevard on Saturday.

WATSONVILLE—The newly constructed roundabout at the intersection of Highway 129 (Riverside Road) and Lakeview Road opened on Dec. 3 to through traffic. Final roadway striping and a variety of construction details will be completed over the next few weeks, but the roadway and roundabout are...

WATSONVILLE—A 19-year-old Watsonville man, armed with a loaded handgun, was arrested Wednesday following a brief but dramatic foot chase. The incident unfolded on Dawson Street near Marchant Street and the Pajaro River Levee around 1:30pm, Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. Gabriel Villanueva was...

Holding open a door, picking up litter, loaning a pencil — any of these small deeds can be seen as an act of kindness. It is this character-building that teachers are hoping to instill in summer school students at EA Hall Middle School.

Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Thursday announced that she will be retiring in June. Newel was appointed to the position in July 2019. During that time, she led the county through the Covid pandemic, considered to be the largest public health crisis in...