Events planned across Pajaro Valley for Fourth of July
As the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley slowly reopen after a year of closures due to the pandemic, a series of events have been scheduled to celebrate the Fourth of July.
While the city’s annual Spirit of Watsonville Parade has once again...
Watsonville’s Music in the Plaza series returns July 8
WATSONVILLE—On July 8 Music in the Plaza, an outdoor concert series started in 2019, will return to downtown Watsonville after a year of canceled shows.
Presented by the city of Watsonville in partnership with the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) and iHeart Media, the concerts are...
Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District running out of space
WATSONVILLE—Major work is underway at the Valley Public Cemetery to make way for hundreds of garden crypts.
The move is part of the Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District’s needed expansion to create more land for burials, said Bob Tanner, Pajaro Valley Public Cemetery District Board...
Man who shot at traffic with slingshot sentenced to 15 years in prison
MONTEREY COUNTY—A man who used a slingshot to fire projectiles at vehicles driving on Monterey County highways between February 2019 and January 2020 was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in state prison, Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Matthew L’Heureux announced.
Charles Kenneth Lafferty, 54, pleaded...
Watsonville’s Environmental Science Workshop hammers on
WATSONVILLE—With the whir of a jigsaw in the background, the buzz of an electric kitchen mixer and the tapping of a hammer filling the air, Pajaro Valley’s young people were busy last week completing their projects at the Environmental Science Workshop on 2nd Street.
The...
Approved County budget includes ‘climate resilience’ office
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved this fiscal year’s budget, a behemoth $932 million spending plan that represents an 8% reduction in spending from the previous year.
That decrease came as the county recovers from the CZU Lightning...
Alleged sheriff’s sergeant killer waives preliminary hearing
SANTA CRUZ—The man who allegedly fatally shot Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller in Ben Lomond last year during a violent crime spree waived his preliminary hearing Monday in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
The move means Steven Carrillo, who appeared in the courtroom...
Arte del Corazón returns Friday with hip-hop theme
WATSONVILLE—Throughout the pandemic, Watsonville-based organization Arte del Corazón has been staging open-air art shows to showcase local artists.
The idea for the shows came from Monica Galvan, who has teamed up with other artists and performers to plan events at Romo Park on Main Street,...
Watsonville Nature Center reopens to the public, readies for expansion
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Nature Center reopened to visitors last weekend for the first time since the pandemic, holding an open house on June 26 that included a special workshop on emergency wildfire preparedness.Â
Various local organizations and agencies were on hand at the event, including Regeneración...
Santa Cruz County sees first reported case of Delta variant
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Public Health Department announced Tuesday that a resident has tested positive for the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The patient is a man in his 50s who experienced mild symptoms. The sample was taken on June 10, county spokesman Jason...
Santa Cruz County celebrates with parades
Thousands of people attended Fourth of July parades in Watsonville and Aptos Friday, lining sidewalks aliog main streets to see hundreds of participants. Below...
