Local News

A major water main replacement job has begun on West Beach Street as part of the ongoing citywide Water Main Replacement Program. Patrice Theriot, the city’s principal engineer, said work got underway on West Beach last week between Rodriuez and Main streets, leading to the...

Tariq Belhaj shows a 2024 Aromas Day T-shirt he purchased at the annual Aromas Day celebration. Between 5,000-7,000 people typically come to the one-day free event. From caramel corn, classic cars, cops arts and crafts, firefighters, sports groups and live music, the event has...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Feb. 12 marked a day of free smiles for 48 low-income children in Santa Cruz County thanks to Dientes’ celebration of Give Kids A Smile Day.  This annual day of free care, which has grown to serve more than 300,000 children each year...

WATSONVILLE—Richard Del Piero was a Watsonville High School graduate, a U.S. Air Force Veteran and a local farmer who as a school board member in the 1960s helped reign in several local education agencies to create the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.  Del Piero died...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A recent reduction to employees in the Kaiser Permanente corporation—about 200 positions—will not reach Santa Cruz County, a spokesman said Tuesday. One of the largest private employers in California, the company has more than 149,000 employees and 16,000 physicians in the state. In addition,...

WATSONVILLE—A father and son who have faced numerous marijuana-related charges in the past were arrested again on April 19 after a California Highway Patrol officer found nearly five pounds of marijuana in their vehicle. According to CHP officer Sam Courtney, Elias Ayala Gutierrez, 50, and...

WATSONVILLE—Heavily-trafficked Green Valley Road will be shut down between Struve Slough and Carey Avenue—near the Home Depot store—until Thursday, according to City of Watsonville officials. The road closure was first announced on Oct. 24 and went into effect on Saturday. Crews from Granite Construction worked...

After four months of being raised by a Watsonville High School student, Stinkers the pig is ready for market. The 252-pound Hampshire cross was lazing in her pen Wednesday, soon after the Santa Cruz County Fair opened and after she waddled with a third-place ribbon...

WATSONVILLE—In a mostly empty Jan. 19 meeting conducted over Zoom, the Watsonville City Council voted unanimously to join a collective of local government agencies to streamline the process of rebuilding and reenforcing the Pajaro River levee. The union, called the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency...

WATSONVILLE—Working as an Environmental Services Aide at Watsonville Community Hospital, Benjamin Lamsen cleans rooms in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. That work has been challenging, he says, since the Covid-19 pandemic began its spread across the globe. In addition to increased...