News

WATSONVILLE—On July 8 Music in the Plaza, an outdoor concert series started in 2019, will return to downtown Watsonville after a year of canceled shows. Presented by the city of Watsonville in partnership with the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) and iHeart Media, the concerts are...

WATSONVILLE—Roughly 60 people—many of them on bikes—gathered on the southwest outskirts of Watsonville on July 17 to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the city’s segment of the Coastal Rail Trail. The ribbon-cutting for the 12-foot wide, quarter-mile-long strip of asphalt between Walker...

WATSONVILLE—Three new officers began their new careers with Watsonville Police Department on Aug. 16, and are now in the early stages of WPD’s 6-month field training program. Francisco Felix, Jasmine Tirado and Johnny Miranda are now riding along with experienced officers as they learn their...

WATSONVILLE—A Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge on Oct. 14 sided with the residents of a mobile home park who had been battling a giant rent increase since 2017.  Attorneys for the residents say the decision supports a County ordinance governing rent increases, and has...

APTOS—A long line of U.S. military veterans was outside an Aptos cannabis dispensary Monday, waiting their turn for a free monthly package of marijuana. Called the Veterans’ Compassion Program, the service is the overarching mission of the Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance (SCVA). Through it, people...

It’s just after noon on Jan. 28, and a Roaring Camp train is getting ready to leave the station to wind its way up the Santa Cruz Mountains. “We’re two minutes late now, but that’s OK,” says the announcer on board, as the last stragglers...

SAN FRANCISCO—The Ben Lomond man who used a homemade assault rifle to kill a federal law enforcement officer outside an Oakland courthouse nearly two years ago pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 to the charges in Northern District Court in San Francisco. Steven Carrillo, who formerly...

WATSONVILLE—The 18th Annual Fairgrounds Foundation Crab Feed will return March 5, and once again it will be a drive-thru event.  The annual feed is one of the foundation’s biggest fundraisers of the year. All profits of the event will go directly back to the fairgrounds...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Community Band kicked off its yearlong 75th Anniversary celebration Wednesday during a break in its regular rehearsal in the band room at Watsonville High School. The date coincided with the very first rehearsal of what was then called Watsonville Sciots Band in 1947. “We’re...

WATSONVILLE—In January, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan for County staff to apply for a piece of state housing funds through a program known as Project Homekey. That project, administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD),...