News

WATSONVILLE, CA- Evacuation orders have been issued for Watsonville neighborhoods with a high risk of flooding during this recent storm.  Residents are asked to evacuate immediately if their residence is within the red area on this map. City officials are encouraging evacuations, and asserting that choosing...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District has closed all of its schools in advance of the storms expected to begin Sunday night, last through Tuesday and bring possible flooding throughout the District. PVUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez made the announcement Sunday afternoon. District officials will assess the storm...

PAJARO—A cadre of elected and public officials gathered in Pajaro late Sunday morning to issue a dire warning in advance of a rainstorm expected to begin Sunday night and bring possible major flooding to Monterey and Santa Cruz counties through Tuesday. The messages, delivered in...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Watsonville and Santa Cruz County officials on Thursday lifted the evacuation orders and flood warnings issued during the dual atmospheric river storms that came on Dec. 30 and Jan. 4, allowing residents to return home and breathe a sigh of relief that...

SAN JOSE—Watsonville native Matt Mahan has been sworn in as mayor of Northern California’s largest city. The Harvard-educated 40-year-old businessman turned politician grew up on the outskirts of Watsonville in the 1980s and ’90s, just off Amesti Road near Pinto Lake. His mother taught at...

WATSONVILLE—Caitlin Bayaca is on track to earn the highest award of the Girl Scouts organization.  The Gold Award is designed for high school-age scouts and ambassadors, who create, propose and lead a major community service project. Bayaca, a senior at Aptos High School and part of...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s first baby of the year made his appearance at 4:09am, a five-and-a-half pound boy who makes the third child for Beneslao Lucas and Irma Lopez.  Josue Lucas made a surprise appearance at 36 weeks, but was healthy and lively on Monday morning at Watsonville...

WATSONVILLE—A $6 million loan from the State of California will allow Watsonville to build a new landfill, a move that will save money and give the City a place to haul its waste for as long as three decades. The loan from the California Infrastructure...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon issued new mandatory evacuation orders, including parts of South County, as well as several neighborhoods up Soquel-San Jose Road and Main Street required to leave. In Watsonville, the orders include Freedom Boulevard north of...

WATSONVILLE—As the next major rainstorm rolls in, the City of Watsonville and local nonprofits are heading up a major effort to provide sandbags for local residents in flood-prone areas. Scores of city staff and volunteers from Community Bridges, the Community Action Board, the California Conservation...