Local News

Melissa Arana, 3, pays visit to Santa Monday at Ramsay Park in Watsonville after Santa and one of his helpers landed in a helicopter. More than 100 people lined up to watch the landing in a soccer field and then stepped up to greet...

Caroline’s Non Profit Thrift Store opened in 2010 with a single goal: raise funds to help the nonprofit organizations that work with children with special needs and their families. Founder Christine Licker says her inspiration was her daughter Caroline, who died at 16 after receiving...

Watsonville Police investigate a two-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon on East Lake Avenue. WPD said a Pajaro man was driving west on Eastlake Avenue just after 5 PM in a Toyota Camry east of Tuttle Avenue. At one point, he slammed into a parked Toyota...

About seven years ago, Marie Riggs was living in a homeless shelter and addicted to alcohol, wondering how she would survive this low point in her life. “I was a hopeless mess,” she said. “I had no idea how to live, I didn’t know how...

Brianna Vasquez is a 13-year-old about to begin her 8th-grade year at Rolling Hills Middle School. As the days of her summer vacation wane and the academic year looms, many of her friends are enjoying their break. But on Thursday, Brianna was taking a different path....

Watsonville Police are looking for the person who reportedly shot a dog on the Pajaro River levee near the Main Street Bridge Dec. 27. Officers responded to a call of shots fired shortly before 12:30am and found a dog suffering from a gunshot injury, Watsonville...

California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF) has advice for farmers who have accumulated huge heaps of used plastic, specifically used drip system tape and hoop house film. CMSF Water Quality Program Coordinator Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz met via Zoom with Pajaro Valley residents concerned about the massive amounts...

After opening a new fitness center on Green Valley Road in Watsonville just over a year ago, Toadal Fitness continues to expand services, including major renovations of the pool. The Watsonville club, at 25 Penny Lane, is part of a group of centers sprinkled around...

Santa Cruz County residents will consider a half-cent sales tax on the March 5 ballot which, if approved by a simple majority, will fund wildfire protection programs, as well as public safety, road and park improvements and other services. The Santa Cruz County Board of...