Local News

Although there was no Spirit of Watsonville Fourth of July parade this year, Watsonville celebrated Independence Day with the Mayor's Bike Ride and a concert from the Watsonville Community Band in downtown Watsonville.

WATSONVILLE—Thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of so-called “safe-and-sane” fireworks that a youth football program intended to sell as a Fourth of July fundraiser, Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. The Watsonville Jr. Wildcatz had roughly $7,000 worth of fireworks stolen from a storage...

WATSONVILLE—Two people, including a Watsonville firefighter, were injured on the Fourth of July after a suspected DUI driver plowed into several vehicles and a group of people at the scene of a fire on the 100 block of Miles Lane. Watsonville Police Department spokeswoman Michelle...

Hundreds of people gathered along Soquel Avenue in Aptos Sunday for the annual World’s Shortest Parade, which returned from a one-year hiatus.

WATSONVILLE—The Santa Cruz County Elections Department on Wednesday approved a petition by a group seeking to recall Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Georgia Acosta. The approval starts the 90-day period for the Committee to Recall Georgia Acosta to gather signatures from 25% of the...

WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville is asking the City Council to deem a troubled housing development off Ohlone Parkway a public nuisance at its July 6 meeting. Pacific Sunshine Garden at 1773 Santa Victoria Ave. has for more than three years failed to make various corrections...

WATSONVILLE—A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge on Wednesday ruled that Watsonville Municipal Airport officials were in the wrong when they placed barriers at a business nearly three years ago that blocked access to the runways. The Statement of Decision by Judge Timothy Volkmann means...

CENTRAL COAST—When Melissa Dennis began teaching third grade at Ohlone Elementary School, she noticed that an unusual number of her students at the school in the rural Royal Oaks community just south of Watsonville had health issues. She says she finds it alarming how many...

MOSS LANDING—The Elkhorn Slough Foundation recently acquired a key wetland property along Moro Cojo Slough, a major tributary of the larger Elkhorn Slough.  The 34-acre tract expands the foundation’s holdings in that area to 450 acres. The foundation has protected more than 4,200 acres of...

The next phase of “Watsonville Brillante,” the massive mosaic project splashed across the exterior walls of the six-story Civic Plaza parking garage in downtown Watsonville, is currently being installed. Lead artist Kathleen Crocetti added that the scaffolding and netting that covers the project will...