Save Our Shores urges Memorial Day visitors to keep beaches clean
The Save Our Shores (SOS) organization is encouraging everyone who visits local beaches this Memorial Day Weekend to be an “Ocean Hero.”
The environmental nonprofit asks visitors to leave beaches with all the items they brought with them, including trash.
SOS recommends to:
1) Bring...
Man caught burglarizing Watsonville business
WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville man was arrested late Tuesday night after he was caught burglarizing a business on Airport Boulevard.
Gabriel Soto-Gonzalez, 41, was charged with burglary, vehicle theft and providing false ID to police. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $25,000...
10 dead, including gunman, in San Jose shooting
SAN JOSE—Nine people were killed by gunfire and the gunman killed himself following a mass shooting early Wednesday morning at the Valley Transportation Authority yard in San Jose.
At 6:34am, the suspect, Samuel Cassidy, 57, opened fire at the VTA light rail yard in San...
El Sistema plans summer music programs for PVUSD students
WATSONVILLE—Since 2017, Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) has partnered with nonprofit El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley to bring music education and performance to local students.
During the pandemic, El Sistema has continued its work both virtually and in-person, with small cohorts of students signed...
Watsonville City Council approves utility rate increases
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday virtual meeting approved utility rate increases that will raise a typical single-family household’s bill by about $40 per month by 2026.
The increases were recommended through a rate study conducted by consultant Raftelis Financial Inc. that said they...
Pajaro levee project begins long-awaited design phase
WATSONVILLE—Federal, state and local officials gathered at Atri Park in Watsonville Monday at a public ceremony to sign a design agreement for the Pajaro River Flood Management Project.
The long-awaited $400 million effort is designed to reduce flood risk for the “disadvantaged” communities of Pajaro...
Watsonville appoints new homegrown library director
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville City Manager Matt Huffaker announced last week that he appointed Alicia Martinez as the new director of the Watsonville Public Library. She succeeds longtime director Carol Heitzig, who retired in July 2020.
Martinez worked her way up the ranks at the library. She started...
METRO board extends CEO’s contract as unions call for his dismissal
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) Board of Directors at its May 21 virtual meeting unanimously approved a contract extension with CEO and General Manager Alex Clifford that will keep him at the head of the transportation agency through May 6,...
Anti-vaccine protestors crash Watsonville school clinic
WATSONVILLE—In the days after California began to offer Covid-19 vaccines for children 12 and older, thousands across the state lined up for their turn.
In Santa Cruz County, a total of 1,200 young people got their vaccines at Scotts Valley High School, Dominican Hospital’s Employee...
Hampton Inn opens in Watsonville
WATSONVILLE—A project seven years in the making, the 112-room Hampton Inn & Suites opened its doors Monday morning on Lee Road in Watsonville.
The four-story hotel flanks a new Starbucks coffee house and a newly opened Arco gas station and AM/PM mini market, all under...
PVUSD trustees cut school employee, teacher positions
After the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees late Thursday night made sweeping cuts to 78 classified positions, newly appointed Board President...
