Local News

WATSONVILLE—A man was arrested after reportedly running from Watsonville police following a car stop Monday afternoon in downtown Watsonville. Master Officer Charles Bailey said he tried to stop the car around 12:30pm when the driver suddenly shot down East Lake Avenue and nearly crashed. After...

WATSONVILLE—A temporary protected bike and pedestrian path on Green Valley Road between Amesti Road and Pinto Lake City Park officially opened May 28.  The path, installed by the County of Santa Cruz, serves as a preview for area residents and students of nearby Amesti Elementary School...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Jennifer Schacher, who has held the Trustee Area 5 seat since she was elected in 2018, has closed the gap between herself and opponent Olivia Flores since early returns began to come in Tuesday night. Flores is ahead by...

Two weeks ago, Amelia Loftus, owner of Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting, was on the brink of closing her cafe in Watsonville just shy of its five-year anniversary. The shop, located at the end of a sleepy business complex on Hangar Way, had been struggling to...

The County of Santa Cruz on Wednesday named Nicole Coburn as its new Chief Executive Officer, just over three-months after Carlos Palacios announced his retirement from the position. The Board of Supervisors unanimously chose Coburn after a nationwide search during which 139 candidates from across...

WATSONVILLE—Earlier this year, Santa Cruz County was presented with the challenging task of raising $67 million to purchase and subsequently save Watsonville Community Hospital (WCH). Since the February 2022 formation of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD)—an organization aiming to advocate for community-led, nonprofit...

SAN JOSE—Watsonville native Matt Mahan has been sworn in as mayor of Northern California’s largest city. The Harvard-educated 40-year-old businessman turned politician grew up on the outskirts of Watsonville in the 1980s and ’90s, just off Amesti Road near Pinto Lake. His mother taught at...

Watsonville Police announced Thursday that the man who allegedly stole a small airplane out of Watsonville Municipal Airport (WMA) on June 26 appears to have flown the Cessna 172 SP Skyhawk into the sea.

A crew from Randazzo Enterprises use an excavator to demolish the National 9 Motel in downtown Watsonville Wednesday to make way for a four-story, 80-room Hilton Home2 Suites hotel. Approved as a La Quinta Inn by the Watsonville City Council in 2016 and revised...