Local News

WATSONVILLE—When the Loma Prieta earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989, Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Willy Elliott-McCrea was in Watsonville, talking about disaster preparation. It was a strange bit of irony, and it took the presence of then-Watsonville Fire Chief Gary Smith...

We wanted to end the old year and ring in the new one with a collection of photos from notable events from2024. And what a year it was! Just a few months after local officials celebrated the reopening of the Capitola Wharf after months of...

The Watsonville Rotary Club Foundation is still fielding grants from organizations serving young people in Watsonville.  The deadline for grant applications is Jan. 31.  Applicants must be a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a tax-exempt organization or a school-based program in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, or...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday heard the results of a roughly year-long endeavor sparked by the calls for police reform and social equity stemming from last year’s slaying of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The Ad-Hoc Committee on Policing and Social...

Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles Thursday. Padilla, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, released the following statement after he was taken out of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press...

Local artist Paul de Worken of Monterey Bay Murals began his day early on Monday morning, setting up buckets of paint, brushes and other supplies for the fourth annual Community Mural Paint Day.

For five days last week, Watsonville Police Department officers joined police, firefighters and medical professionals from around the county—and beyond—in active shooter training, running through policies and live scenarios at the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District tri-campus in Felton. Sgt. Mish Radich, who headed...

Work continues on the Green Valley Road Multi-Use Project. The County of Santa Cruz Department of Community Development and Infrastructure said the project will provide pedestrians with a safer, more accessible path through the area. It also includes upgraded road crossings, new bus shelters...