Local News

Just across the Pajaro River from Watsonville in Monterey County, hundreds of seasonal farmworkers are now living in a recently completed housing complex created for them at the end of Susan Street. Buses take them to their job sites, and return them to the gated...

A proposed law that would have retroactively invalidated voter-approved tax measures throughout the state was removed from the November ballot by the California Supreme Court Thursday, a move that came as a relief to jurisdictions that had already budgeted the revenue. The Taxpayer Protection and...

It was 17 years ago that a group of volunteers began to restore the Rancho San Andreas Castro Adobe, a structure whose endurance over its 176-year lifespan helps paint a picture of California history. Now fully restored and equipped with interpretative displays, touchable exhibits and...

A man died at Moran Beach along East Cliff Drive in Live Oak Friday. Ashley Keehn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff'’s Office identified the victim as Hans Materne, 45, of Atlanta, Ga.   The Sheriff’s Office said deputies, Harbor Patrol, State Parks, and fire personnel were...

Elaine Johnson was 15 before she realized that the “aunt” who lived with her grandmother was actually her grandmother’s partner of four decades. In those days, LGBTQ largely had to live in the shadows, lest they draw scorn from a society not yet evolved enough...

This story was updated May 31 at 6:00 p.m. UC Santa Cruz Police called upon law enforcement agencies from several jurisdictions from across the state early Friday morning to dismantle a pro-Palestine encampment and secure the entrance of campus, where roughly 100 students were protesting...

For Michelle Martinez Kamalani and her mother, Judy Martinez of Watsonville, Memorial Day meant setting time aside to visit Valley Catholic Cemetery.  With an electric weed-whacker, a whisk broom,  hand clippers and two bunches of fresh flowers, the pair wandered through the rows of flower-festooned...

In the wake of a May 25 burglary at his Watsonville cannabis dispensary, Bryce Berryessa installed several new features designed to deter similar crimes from occurring again. According to Watsonville Police Department, 12 armed suspects used an SUV to ram and break open the dispensary’s...

Editor's note: This is the final part of reporter Tarmo Hannula's trip to the Sacramento area. Stay tuned to The Pajaronian for his future travel exploits. One the last day of the short road trip my wife, Sarah and I took from Watsonville to Sacramento,...

If Pajaro Valley Unified School District performed all the upgrades, repairs and construction projects that are needed at its 33 schools, it would cost more than $1.2 billion. A large part of that estimate is $400 million to replace the district’s array of portable classrooms  That’s...