Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday heard a grim budget report which, while it shows that the district can cover its expenses for the next three years, it also predicts that declining enrollment will severely drain its general fund. PVUSD...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers are questioning a contract proposal by district officials that hinges a 1 percent salary increase on raising attendance rates to 97 percent. Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Nelly Vaquera-Boggs called that requirement unrealistic. “They are asking us to control...

APTOS—Community Foundation Santa Cruz County awarded scholarships to 11 local students, the organization announced July 10. Pajaro Valley High School students Reyna Ponce (Barbara J. Thompson Scholarship), Omar Salazar (Emmett and Elsie Geiser Scholarship), Brianna Melgoza-Ortiz (Hank Garcia Jr. and Family Scholarship), Adam Tangonan (Hank...

Phil Maas, a former head coach for the North Monterey County High football team, had one of the best turnaround seasons for any team in Monterey County. He took a group that went from winless to undefeated in the span of a season. Maas shares...

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...

WATSONVILLE—Guy George, whose roots in Pajaro Valley agriculture stretch back to his immigrant parents, has earned this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. George joins Trina Coffman-Gomez and Dana Sales as Woman and Man of the Year, along...

WATSONVILLE — Watsonville Police is asking for help in identifying a man who was caught on camera vandalizing St. Patrick’s Church on Tuesday afternoon. Surveillance footage shows the suspect walking toward the front doors of the church with a spray paint can in hand. About 15...

In late July of 2019, a large, four-panel mural by Peter Bartczak of Clown Bank Studios was hoisted up onto the side of the old Watsonville City Hall. The mural depicted a family of ducks, carefully crossing a street in a crosswalk in front of...

WATSONVILLE—In 1961, two years after Cabrillo College in Aptos was established, Rich Hart was hired by the school to start its brand new Engineering department.  Hart would go on to be chair of the department as well as its sole instructor for 34 years, teaching...

As part of major renovations and improvements at St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish in downtown Watsonville, the historic brick structure, at Main Street and Freedom Boulevard, was wrapped up in dramatic black and yellow material Tuesday to allow for termite control. A crew from Best Care...