News

WATSONVILLE—With the purchase of Watsonville Community Hospital now a certainty, the nonprofit formed to make the acquisition got another bit of good news Tuesday when Kaiser Permanente announced it was donating $4.5 million to the cause. With a goal of $67 million to cover the...

WATSONVILLE—Two dozen bicyclists rolled into Watsonville Monday on the second stop of the annual Fire Velo bike ride. Their week-long journey started in Sausalito and ends in Los Angeles. Fire Velo is a national cycling organization that promotes physical and mental wellness in the fire...

Few people may be aware, but Watsonville once had its own currency. From circa 1902 through 1929 there were $5 and $10 bills with the words “Pajaro Valley National Bank of Watsonville” printed on them. “I have bought them in the past, but not so much...

A large mosaic sculpture, created by local artists Kathleen Crocetti and Monica Galvan to memorialize victims of Covid 19 now stands in a field near upper Struve Slough. On Saturday and Sunday from 2-6pm each day, community members who have lost someone to Covid...

Members of Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí perform at Pajaro Valley Pride's annual celebration Sunday at the Watsonville YWCA. The event, held in-person for the first time since 2019, began with a Pride march around the block before moving the YWCA for live drag and dance...

Every year, tens of thousands of people from across the globe gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for Burning Man, an experimental festival focused on art, self-expression and community.  The week-long event has participants arrive with their own shelter, food and water, and supplies to...

WATSONVILLE—Juan Herrera has been keeping busy since he graduated from Watsonville High School (WHS) in 2021. After landing a job with K&D Landscaping while still in school, Herrera rose up through the ranks, starting in the maintenance crew and finally working on larger residential and...

WATSONVILLE—The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Coroner has identified the three victims in a midair collision between two airplanes on Aug. 18 above Watsonville Municipal Airport.  Carl Kruppa, 75, and Nannette Plett-Kruppa, 67, both of Winton, Calif. were aboard the Cessna 340 twin-engine plane, while Stuart...

WATSONVILLE—The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation into a Thursday mid-air collision between two airplanes above Watsonville Municipal Airport that killed three people and one dog. NTSB Airsafety Investigator Fabian Salazar said during a Friday afternoon press conference that the probe into the...

WATSONVILLE—Since the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1716 was founded nearly a century ago, it has been a place for vets to find the camaraderie of shared experience, as well as a gathering spot for friends. More importantly, the Watsonville organization—and others like it nationwide—offer...