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Watsonville
September 17, 2025

Esperanza del Valle returns to Watsonville

WATSONVILLE—For the first time in 10 years, Watsonville’s Esperanza del Valle (EDV) will be returning to the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts for a weekend of dancing, music and cultural celebration. The nonprofit folklórico dance group was founded in Watsonville in 1980...

Father-son pair arrested again on marijuana charges

sirens
WATSONVILLE—A father and son who have faced numerous marijuana-related charges in the past were arrested again on April 19 after a California Highway Patrol officer found nearly five pounds of marijuana in their vehicle. According to CHP officer Sam Courtney, Elias Ayala Gutierrez, 50, and...

Remembering Loma Prieta: Quake left Watsonville in ruin, united residents

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...

County park will honor late Sheriff’s deputy

Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller
APTOS—Plans were announced Thursday of a major renovation of Willowbrook County Park to honor the late Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, who was gunned down in the line of duty in 2020. The project of “reimagining” the park was announced in a brief...

Santa Cruz METRO announces new CEO

Santa Cruz Metro Michael Tree
SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) on Friday announced it has named Michael Tree its new CEO/General Manager. Tree has nearly three decades of experience in the public transit industry and city management, most recently as Executive Director of the Livermore Amador Valley...

Local winery honors Watsonville legend “One-Eyed Charley”

If you’ve ever strolled through Pioneer Cemetery in Watsonville, you might have come across the final resting place of Charley Darkey Parkhurst, a stagecoach driver, farmer and rancher who has become a local legend since their death in 1879. Born Charlotte Darkey Parkhurst, Charley was...

Measure U extension placed on November ballot

measure u watsonville
WATSONVILLE—Should Watsonville expand outward in an effort to meet mounting housing and economic needs? Or will it continue to restrict its growth, and increase its housing density in favor of protecting every inch of the rich surrounding agricultural land? These are the questions Watsonville voters...

Watsonville High community reeling from 4 recent, sudden deaths

Abel Mejia, Ruben Mejia, Bill Callahan Federico Castañeda
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School community is reeling from the loss of four staff members that occurred over the past nine months. History and economics teacher Abel Mejia died on Sept. 16, and his brother Ruben Mejia, a biology teacher, died on Sept. 5.  Their deaths came after...

Council opposes Measure D

rail trail
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday night approved a resolution in opposition to Measure D, the divisive June 7 ballot measure that, if approved, would remove language from Santa Cruz County’s guiding planning document that relates to rail services, both freight and passenger. Watsonville Mayor...

Watsonville woman dies in mass shooting in Mexico

Watsonville shooting
MICHOACÁN, MEXICO—A Watsonville mother of four was killed—and her sister critically injured—in a mass shooting in Michoacán, Mexico on March 28. Melissa Silva was 36. She leaves behind four children, 20, 17, 12 and 10, two of whom attend Calabasas Elementary School. Her 16-year-old sister...
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Prep Athletes of the Week: MVC’s Boston Ashe; St. Francis’ Maya...

The Pajaronian’s Prep Athletes of the Week were selected based on their performances during the week of Sept. 8-14. Coaches and athletic directors are...