Local News

PRUNEDALE—A 35-year-old Watsonville man was injured in a butane honey oil lab explosion in Prunedale Monday. Francisco Ponce was in the area when Monterey County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the 16000 block of Meridian Road around 3pm to investigate a report of an explosion. Ponce...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Officials at Pacific Coast Manor have reported that 61 of their residents and 37 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. Four residents of the skilled nursing facility in Capitola have also died of Covid-19 complications, the facility reported Wednesday. Sixteen of the...

WATSONVILLE—On an emotion-packed night that featured warm sendoffs for several city staffers, Ari Parker stepped in as Watsonville’s mayor during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. A lifelong Watsonville resident and an educator for more than three decades, Parker was sworn in by Assistant City Clerk Irwin...

Fox Factory, Inc. has temporarily laid off 85 employees from its Watsonville facility on Hangar Way and another 159 employees from its headquarters in Scotts Valley, state filings show. The reductions came weeks before its parent company Fox Factory Holding Corp, which designs and manufactures...

WATSONVILLE—Election season has officially begun. Former Watsonville City Councilman Jimmy Dutra is again running for office in his home city, announcing on Saturday morning through Facebook that he will run for the City Council seat in District 6. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and...

Pacific Gas and Electric estimates around 1,524 people lost power in Watsonville Friday afternoon.

A day before the new school year started, with more than 16,000 students returning to class throughout Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Pajaro Middle School celebrated the reopening of the campus following major flood repairs.  When the Pajaro River Levee broke during heavy winter rains...

On Saturday, Santa Cruz Naturals will herald in its second location in Pajaro with a grand opening celebration that includes food, music and visits by elected officials.

SEACLIFF—The new Seacliff Skate Park opened Saturday in Seacliff Village Park.  The park is nestled in a curving section of McGregor Drive at Canterbury Drive and beside the State Park exit from Highway 1. It features “skateable art,” features a view of the Monterey Bay...

WATSONVILLE—This weekend residents will have the opportunity to ride on a clean-energy, accessible streetcar along a section of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line in Watsonville. Members of Coast Futura, an alliance of people from various other county organizations, organized the demonstration with Roaring Camp...