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Watsonville
December 17, 2025

PHOTO: New potluck in town

People line up at the food table to sample one another's dishes at the first-ever Cooking Club potluck at the Watsonville Public Library on Main Street Thursday evening.

County sues pharmaceutical companies

The County of Santa Cruz has filed a complaint against several pharmaceutical corporations, alleging that they are complicit in fueling the national opioid crisis.

Year in Review: 2020, a year marred by Covid-19, wildfires

It is nearly impossible to talk about 2020 and not mention Covid-19, as the pesky novel coronavirus overtook our lives in March and has not yet loosened its grip. However, there were other stories, events and tragedies that managed to wholly affect our community even...

Watsonville crew joins Park Fire

The Park Fire in northern California continues to burn in Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties and is stacking up to be among the state’s largest. So far, more than 392,480 acres have burned, more than 200 buildings have been destroyed—with around 1,000 threatened—and...

Suspect shoots at man in parked vehicle

A man was injured Saturday night after an unknown suspect shot at him while he was in his vehicle.

City sets schedule for redistricting outreach

Watsonville city council
WATSONVILLE—The city of Watsonville over the next eight months will undergo its decennial citywide effort to redraw the lines of its elected districts. Every decade following the release of census data, cities and counties must adjust their district lines to account for possible shifts in...

Approved County budget includes ‘climate resilience’ office

Santa Cruz County
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved this fiscal year’s budget, a behemoth $932 million spending plan that represents an 8% reduction in spending from the previous year. That decrease came as the county recovers from the CZU Lightning...

Pajaro repairs progress as officials tour region

gavin newsom pajaro flood
PAJARO—Motorists who have been taking hours-long detours since waters from a flood forced the closure of Highway 1 saw a measure of relief Thursday morning, after officials opened the road. Officials cautioned, however, that parts of the highway between Salinas Road and Highway 129...

Volunteers gather to repair vandalized Black Lives Matter mural

black lives matter mural
Around 300 people joined forces to repair a giant Black Lives Matter mural Sunday in downtown Santa Cruz. The work was a community response to the mural being damaged by two men in what prosecutors described as a hate crime for felony vandalism when they...

California Supreme Court strikes anti-tax bill

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...
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Photo story: Fill the Fire Truck effort aids in toy drive

Watsonville’s interim Fire Chief, Corey Schaefer, shows a sampling of the new toys that locals donated first-ever Fill the Fire Truck Toy Drive Dec...