Local News

WATSONVILLE—An alleged Watsonville gang member was arrested Thursday, and a handgun was taken off the street following the service of a search warrant. Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said officers from the Special Investigations Unit arrested Rigoberto Lopez, 28, for being a felon in possession...

WATSONVILLE—More than 100 people gathered in front of the newly rebuilt McDonald’s restaurant on Freedom Boulevard Tuesday for a grand reopening celebration. The business, located at 1598 Freedom Blvd., replaces the one originally built in 1974, which had remained at the same location until demolition...

WATSONVILLE—If all goes according to plan, Watsonville’s Ramsay Park over the next five years will become the “community space that it really needs to be,” says city of Watsonville Administrative Services Director Cindy Czerwin. The City plans to pump roughly $22 million in local, state...

WATSONVILLE—Matt Huffaker will leave his position as Watsonville City Manager for the same job in Santa Cruz, Watsonville city leaders confirmed with the Pajaronian Thursday afternoon.  The Santa Cruz City Council, in a press release, said it made a unanimous recommendation for Huffaker to take...

*Note: Erik Chalhoub contributed to this report Watsonville’s Veterans Day Celebration returns to downtown after last year’s in-person event was cancelled due to Covid-19. Veterans and others will begin gathering at 9:30am on Nov. 11 in the parking lot of St. Patrick’s Church, 721 Main St....

PAJARO—A 69-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of molesting at least two girls.  The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested Crescenciano Figueroa, Jr., of Pajaro, on charges of child molestation. Figueroa, known by many in the community as “Chano,” was taken into custody on Fremont...

WATSONVILLE—The second annual Holiday Lights drive-thru light show at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is now fully lit up and open to visitors. Holiday Lights will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday through November, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in December through Dec. 26. Presented...

WATSONVILLE—Local author Jaime Cortez always had nicknames, and now one of them has become his first book. “Gordo,” a paperback collection of stories, is quickly gathering praise after its release by a national publisher in August. And while “Gordo” is Cortez’s first widely distributed work,...

WATSONVILLE—Hours after school officials warned that a challenge posted on the social media site TikTok could prompt young people to call in fake bomb and gun threats to their schools, a school in Watsonville received just such a threat. An anonymous message dated Dec. 17...

Fifth-grade students gathered at tables in Starlight Elementary’s multipurpose room one day in November, laughing with excitement and expectation, as they experienced new foods and recipes.  More importantly, they were discovering new flavors and textures and alternatives to their traditional diet through the “Cooking Club,”...