Local News

A new art exhibit is going up at PV Arts at the Porter Building in downtown Watsonville and runs from Aug. 4 through Sept. 19.  “Body Marking: Art, Ritual & Story” explores global practice of marking the body as a form of personal expression, cultural...

A large group of volunteers showed up to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on Aug. 9 to help bring the Paddy Smith Park back to life. Tucked between the JJ Crosetti and the Fire Arts buildings, the sprawling garden space once featured a majestic river...

 A free “profile performance” will be staged on May 9 for the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission’s Artist of the Year Janet Johns. For 45 years, dancer and choreographer Johns has been a leader of Esperanza del Valle, a folkloric dance group from Pajaro Valley....

Visitors file past various tables Thursday at the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture’s Spring Fling Business Expo and Job Fair. Held at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 82 businesses, organizations and agencies set up information tables to meet and greet the public,...

Thanks to the efforts of a group of local students and artist Jaime Sanchez, a new colorful mural has been added to an outdoor wall of the Family Center in Ramsay Park. The 65-by-15-foot work, titled "The Bigger Picture,” stems from the Teen Artes program...

CASTROVILLE—The North County Fire District held a badge pinning ceremony Tuesday at its main fire station in Castroville, welcoming seven newly promoted firefighters. Attendees to the ceremony included 2nd District Supervisor John Phillips and his staff, Fire District board members and friends and family of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon issued new mandatory evacuation orders, including parts of South County, as well as several neighborhoods up Soquel-San Jose Road and Main Street required to leave. In Watsonville, the orders include Freedom Boulevard north of...

Do you have a recent photo you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to tnunez@pajaronian.com or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s first baby of the year made his appearance at 4:09am, a five-and-a-half pound boy who makes the third child for Beneslao Lucas and Irma Lopez.  Josue Lucas made a surprise appearance at 36 weeks, but was healthy and lively on Monday morning at Watsonville...

Many of California’s roughly 3.8 million small business owners have scrambled to find some financial relief after Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19 ordered all non-essential businesses to close to slow the spread of COVID-19. That meant bars, breweries and nightclubs were forced to shutter...