Local News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Ian Larkin, who has headed up Cal Fire’s San Mateo Santa Cruz Unit since May 2016, has announced his retirement, capping off a career that spanned three decades. Born and raised in Watsonville, Larkin now lives in Scotts Valley with his wife and...

WATSONVILLE—Local author and former Pajaronian editor Michael Wallace has released the ninth installment of his ongoing Quill Gordon Mystery series. The series follows the private investigator as he solves mysteries, usually in familiar west coast settings. Wallace released the first book in 2012, and has...

Firefighters from multiple agencies deal with an early morning fire in the Vista Montaña housing complex in Watsonville that displaced 10 adults. Watsonville Fire Division Chief Corey Schaefer said the initial call came in at 1am for the fire on the second floor of...

Elvira Villacaña (from right) and her daughters, Daisy Nuñez and Nancy Reyes don tradition; clothing and costume in celebration of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in the Watsonville City Plaza Friday. Sponsored by the Watsonville Film Festival and the Santa...

One day my wife Laurie is on NextDoor, the social media site, and sees someone post, “Hey, just saw a coyote in my backyard, make sure your cat is safe indoors.” Almost instantly that seemingly innocuous text ignites into a full-fledged neighbor war, complete with...

A crew from Vacant Property Security installs one of several traffic blocks in the parking lot of the former Kmart on Freedom Boulevard. On Oct. 12, the Watsonville City Council started the process of declaring the abandoned property a public nuisance due to illegal...

Construction workers tear out the surface of a portion of Airport Boulevard Wednesday. Patrice Theriot, principal engineer for the city of Watsonville, said the project involves replacing several hundred feet of road surface on Airport Boulevard from Freedom Boulevard, west to the existing road...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a spending plan for the district’s third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which comes through the American Rescue Plan as a way to help schools nationwide recover...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday got a first look at how the County’s supervisorial districts could be redrawn as the decennial redistricting process nears its end. During redistricting, jurisdictions use the recent census to see how their populations have...