Local News

WATSONVILLE—For the first time ever, the city of Watsonville has its very own poet laureate. Longtime resident Robert Gómez will for the next two years be working to advance the literary arts throughout the Pajaro Valley.  A poet laureate is appointed by a government or...

A man died Saturday afternoon in Watsonville when the motorcycle he was riding plowed into an SUV on Bridge Street. Watsonville Police Sgt. Burt Iles said the man, who has not been identified, was traveling east on a Ducati motorcycle on Bridge Street at 2:25pm...

WATSONVILLE—In the middle of her eighth grade year Nicole Hernandez was looking for a change. She was attending Aptos Junior High, but said she never felt like she fit in there. At Pacific Coast Charter School (PCCS) in Watsonville, Hernandez found what she was searching...

SALINAS—The  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved more than $2.8 million in funding for the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, Congressman Jimmy Panetta announced Tuesday. The funding will be used to complete the preconstruction, engineering, and design (PED) phase of the project in...

WATSONVILLE—When the Loma Prieta earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1989, Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Willy Elliott-McCrea was in Watsonville, talking about disaster preparation. It was a strange bit of irony, and it took the presence of then-Watsonville Fire Chief Gary Smith...

WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Supervisor candidate Jimmy Dutra told a group of reporters and roughly two-dozen supporters that allegations of sexual abuse made against him last week are “completely false and untrue,” and stem from a dispute with his late father’s ex-wife over his estate. Dutra...

A man was killed Friday morning when he was shot multiple times on the 800 block of McKenzie Avenue. According to Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido, dispatchers received multiple 911 calls about gunshots being heard in the neighborhood at about 10am.    Officers responded and found a...

WATSONVILLE—Jessica Martin was getting ready to go to bed Saturday night when she received a text message from a friend. Then another. And another. And another. “They just kept coming in,” she said. “It went viral, really viral.” Her family’s bakery, Rebeca’s Bakery off of Main...

The Cabrillo College Board Name Exploration Subcommittee is hosting a series of community forums regarding Cabrillo’s upcoming name change. During each forum, the top five potential finalists for a new name—Aptos College, Cajastaca College, Costa Vista College, Santa Cruz Coast College and Seacliff College—will be...