Local News

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation (ESF) launched a new “Elkhorn Forever” campaign with a kick-off celebration Tuesday, with the goal of raising $12 million. Held at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center, the effort aims to ensure the long-term health of Elkhorn Slough’s ...

Forty five years of performances, instruction and celebration of Mexican folkloric dance culture was splashed across the Crocker Theater stage at Cabrillo College in three electrifying performances by Watsonville’s Esperanza del Valle on April 4, 5 and 6 in Aptos. The nearly three-hour program, “Espirítu...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously agreed to voice their opposition to proposed federal legislation that would require voter ID and retool voter eligibility requirements nationwide, which County Clerk Tricia Weber says would make it harder for many U.S. citizens...

A March 14 executive order by President Donald Trump targeting federal funding for libraries and museums—among other things—will leave no community untouched. But the impact will vary throughout the state. Both the Santa Cruz County Public Library and the Watsonville Public Library systems receive millions...

Thousands of people took a message to the streets of downtown Watsonville Saturday that they are not happy with President Trump and Elon Musk as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protests. On just the 76th day of Trump’s presidency, more 1,000 such protests took...

A  73-year-old Santa Cruz man was struck by a car and killed early Friday morning on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz. The California Highway Patrol said the man, for unknown reasons, was walking on southbound Hwy 1, north of Soquel Avenue around 5am. CHP officers responded...

The Mesa Village community teamed up with Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW), Pitch-In Santa Cruz County and 4th District Supervisor Felipe Hernandez on March 29 to add new life to Mesa Village County Park.  Around 40 people helped plant shade trees and native shrubs to beautify...

Thanks to the help of volunteers at the Pajaro Valley Arts and staff from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, the four-story Civic Plaza Building in Watsonville has been dressed up with an exhibit of original student artwork for the next year. The effort has...

The Redman-Hirahara house has sat on a 14-acre parcel on the outskirts of Watsonville since William Weeks built it in 1897 for farmer James Redman. Since then, the Queen Anne Victorian has become an iconic piece of Watsonville history, epitomizing the agricultural epicenter the region...

A 1956 Studebaker Lark VI is part of the weekly Watsonville Cars & Coffee at East Lake Village.  Put on by East Lake Village, with help former Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano and Ace Hardware owner Manny Rodrigues, the event showcases early day cars and...