County remembers 58 homeless who died in 2019
SANTA CRUZ—For two decades, Santa Cruz County has held a ceremony to remember the homeless people who died during the year.
The annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day has long been a somber occasion, often marked by stories of the deceased people. Too often, it is...
No injuries reported in Riverside Road garage fire
WATSONVILLE—A large fire broke out in an attached garage that housed numerous vehicles late Saturday night on the 100 block of Riverside Road in Watsonville.
Around 10:20pm, 911 dispatchers got many calls involving flames and a towering column of smoke emanating from an older style...
Former assistant fire chief Gene Friend dies
WATSONVILLE—Former Watsonville Fire Assistant Chief Gene Friend, a household name for many in the Pajaro Valley, died March 25 at Valley Convalescent in Watsonville.
Watsonville Fire Station 1 is emblazoned with his name in large letters as the namesake of the Chief Gene Friend Watsonville...
Fourth annual Pajaro Valley Pride held at YWCA
Pajaro Valley Pride’s annual celebration returned in a different capacity this year—with a brand new location and more activities. The Watsonville YWCA invited the non-profit to use its facility on East Beach Street, prompting the organization to move the event from downtown.
Hundreds expected to participate in county-wide cleanup day on May 11
Aptos resident Laura Dover-Smith was walking on a trail in Watsonville’s sloughs on her lunch break one sunny Wednesday, an activity she tries to do daily.
She says the walk affords her views of wildlife, but also gives her a peaceful respite from the bustling...
Rains prompt evacuation warnings
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Saturday morning issued evacuation warnings for residents in the Felton Grove neighborhood (FEL–E008), and Paradise Park in Santa Cruz (CRZ–E081).
The warnings came as heavy rain and wind overnight drenched the County, toppling trees and power lines and...
Growing together after school
F.L.Y.E.R.S (Fun Loving Youth En Route to Success) is the City of Watsonville’s own after-school program, created from need and housed downtown through the Parks and Community Services Department.
Santa Cruz County’s beach restrictions lifted
SANTA CRUZ—Saying that “people were not willing to be governed anymore,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Thursday said the county’s daily beach restrictions will be removed starting Friday.
Save for water sports, county beaches have been off-limits between 11am-5pm since late April....
A ‘Celebration of Trees’ Pajaro Middle School
Pajaro Middle School got a major landscape overhaul Saturday during a four-hour community event, which included the planting of shade trees, native plants, edible...
