Local News

Searching for joy in the ongoing pandemic calls for a certain focus amidst the cascade of negative numbers such as death tolls, cases and recoveries.  Such is the case for Watsonville artist Sefla Joseph, who has had to reinvent her studio art classes and take...

Wargin Wines’ Assistant Winemaker Brenton Jones says he is ready to shake up the wine industry. “When I look at the industry as a whole… it’s pretty set in its ways,” Jones says. “It gets stuck in a box—especially when you look at what breweries...

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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County is days away from being placed on the California Department of Public Health’s Monitoring List and facing further economic restrictions, County Health Officer Gail Newel said at Thursday morning’s press conference. With 531 active Covid-19 cases as of Thursday—and more...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to permanently end its School Resource Officer program at Watsonville, Pajaro Valley and Aptos high schools, and to redirect the funds to socio-emotional counselors. The district will also look into creating wellness centers...

WATSONVILLE—Two Watsonville area charter schools received funds through the federal Payroll Protection Program (PPP), the $660 billion initiative created to use taxpayer dollars to help keep small business and nonprofit organizations afloat. Watsonville Prep School, which received more than $1.7 million, and Ceiba College Preparatory...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department is asking for help from the community in finding a driver who fled after running over a man on Saturday night. According to WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, the 59-year-old victim was hit at 9:16pm on East Lake Avenue between Lincoln and...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School graduate Kayla Cabrera will be attending virtual classes at UC Berkeley when the fall semester begins on Oct. 1, where she will double major in legal and ethnic studies for a pre-law track. Inspired by social justice issues she encountered while growing...

WATSONVILLE—The national debate over monuments of historic figures in public places has reached Watsonville.  A group of local activists has gathered more than 1,100 virtual signatures in support of removing the George Washington bust in the City Plaza. But not all Watsonville residents want the bust removed. On...

WATSONVILLE—A Watsonville man was arrested Tuesday after police found a kilo of heroin worth at least $80,000 and an assault rifle while executing a search warrant. Gerardo R. Valencia, 29, was arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics for sale and an illegal weapon, jail records...