Local News

The annual Obon Festival unfolded at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple Sunday. Hundreds of people enjoyed dance and Taiko drumming performances, traditional Japanese food, arts, crafts, a raffle and more. For Buddhists, the Obon Festival is a time to honor deceased ancestors by inviting them back...

A sea otter at Cowell’s Beach on the westside of Santa Cruz has garnered headlines around the country for its "unusual behavior," as described by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The otter, identified as Otter 841 by a tag on its flipper, has recently...

A Superior Court judge on June 27 denied a temporary restraining order that would have halted a construction project currently underway in Monterey County, which would add three residential buildings with 45 units for 360 seasonal agricultural workers. Residents of the small rural neighborhood in...

During the pandemic, a white-haired man pulled up to Taqueria Mi Tierra 2 on Freedom Boulevard and began to honk his horn, believing that a carhop would come out to take his order.  The man was remembering the days when the building was still the...

Kristi Garcia and Omar Rodriguez of Cabrillo Stage sing “Some Day” at Watsonville Rotary Club's lunch gathering Wednesday as a sampling of the theater production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Joined by actor Juan Castro and music/vocal director Michael McGushin, the group performed...

Community Bridges and Catholic Charities Diocese of Monterey have teamed up to open a satellite resource center in Pajaro to provide disaster services for families recovering from the floods that inundated the region earlier this year.   The 580-square-foot office at 14 Porter Drive will fulfill...

The community is invited to the Obon Festival at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple (423 Bridge St.) Sunday, July 16 from noon to 5pm. Watsonville Taiko will perform at 3pm. The event is free and open to the public.  We spoke with Ikuyo Conant, Sensei and...

Watsonville Community Hospital seeks community input Watsonville Community Hospital is hosting a town-hall-style event for area residents to hear what’s happening at the hospital and give their input about their hopes and wishes for the hospital, now that it is community-owned.  The event takes place July...

Forty-three young people got a front row seat this week in what it is like to be a police officer, thanks to the second annual Watsonville Police Youth Academy. Staged at the Pajaro Valley High campus, the free one-week course (July 10-14) is designed to...

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office identified the motorcyclist that died July 1 in a crash on Bridge Street as German Melgoza Menchaca, 28, of Watsonville, Public Information Officer Ashley Keehn said. Shown here, an altar of flowers, candles, notes and photos has been...