Local News

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police are warning the public about the increasing prevalence of virtual kidnapping scams, in which callers claim to have kidnapped a family member and demand a ransom payment. “Within the last week, officers have received nearly a half dozen calls from virtual kidnapping victims,”...

Work continues on the major rebuild of the Watsonville High cafeteria and multipurpose room. • I saw on the morning news that one of five people has Covid-19 in Florida. Officials in that state were among the first to rush into reopening, claiming the lockdown was...

WATSONVILLE—Tenant advocates saw a modest increase in eviction notices in June, the month immediately following the Watsonville City Council’s decision to allow its citywide eviction moratorium to expire. The council at its May 26 meeting voted 5-2—Mayor Rebecca Garcia and councilman Francisco Estrada voted “no”—to...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police have arrested a 17-year-old City of Watsonville employee on sexual battery and false imprisonment charges involving at least two teen girls that allegedly occurred in 2017, prior to his employment with the city, spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.  The suspect, who is not being...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously voted to delay a decision on how to resume classes in August, to give district officials time to investigate all of their options. Still undetermined is which risk level the district will use...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz METRO has increased its passenger capacity by 50% in an effort to accommodate more riders, but that decision has raised concerns within the union representing the bus operators still working during the Covid-19 pandemic. METRO CEO Alex Clifford announced on June...

A group of young people gathered Wednesday in front of the Community Bike Collective (CBC) in Watsonville to learn how to change a bicycle tire. Participants in CBC’s Summer Bike Camp, they were preparing for a trip to Wilder Ranch State Park later that day....

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WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department will help conduct 10 community listening sessions and the city will create a police oversight committee in hopes of increasing community trust and accountability in local law enforcement, Chief of Police David Honda announced during Tuesday afternoon’s Watsonville City Council...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Grand Jury every year investigates different aspects of local government and civic operations throughout the county, and its findings typically produce detailed reports of positives and negatives found during the investigations. But while those investigated are required to respond...