Local News

WATSONVILLE—Assemblymember Robert Rivas has named Erica Padilla-Chavez, the CEO of Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, as Woman of the Year for Assembly District 30. The March 30 announcement came as part of an annual Women’s History Month observance by the Legislative Women’s Caucus. “Erica has...

WATSONVILLE—In September, a hastily-organized event dubbed Nerdville drew more than 800 comics fans, collectors and geeks of every ilk to celebrate superheroes and share their love for a genre that has captivated the world since The Phantom debuted in 1936. Friends of Watsonville Parks and...

WATSONVILLE—The musical group Rosa Azul is set to perform Sunday at Studio Judy G on Main Street.  The quartet, which describes itself as “a new ensemble of professional musicians that perform some of the best Mexican music with a polished flare,” will perform in the...

For the past two years the Dan & Lillian King Foundation, which aims to advance the learning of the U.S. Constitution, has sent scores of eighth-graders from Monterey County schools to see live productions of the Tony Award-winning show, “Hamilton: An American Musical.” Hundreds of...

WATSONVILLE—Thanks to a partnership between the Watsonville Senior Center and the Watsonville Nature Center, 22 older adults got a close-up view of Struve Slough, and its birds and plants Monday during the Senior Nature Walk, a program that launched in November. Led up by Nancy...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Forecasters are predicting a cooling trend and possible rain for the weekend, with possible snow in the mountains, bringing a small measure of much-needed moisture to an already parched Central Coast. But that weather will not last long, says Rick Canepa, a meteorologist...

WATSONVILLE—The three candidates vying for the Fourth District seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors squared off in a forum Tuesday night, touching on transportation, housing and other issues affecting the county. The forum was hosted by the Santa Cruz County Chamber of...

APTOS—An Aptos High School junior inspired by her father’s hard work in local agricultural fields has won this year’s 20th Congressional Art Competition, and will see her photograph hang in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Michelle Lopez-Rubio, 17, says she was working with...

Above: American flags line a large swath of Freedom Boulevard Monday for Memorial Day. A crew headed up by VFW Post 1716 of Watsonville took on the task of flying hundreds of coffin flags between the Veterans of Foreign Wars Building on Freedom Boulevard...

Watsonville firefighters chase back a brush fire that opened up around 1:35pm at the edge of Watsonville Sough near the corner of Santa Catalina and Santa Victoria avenues Tuesday. Battalion Chief Jon Goulding said firefighters got a quick handle of the blaze that had...