News

Watsonville Police Master Officer Charles Bailey deals with an armed robbery at Rite Aid on Freedom Boulevard Tuesday morning. Bailey said a man wearing a mask and armed with a handgun entered the store around 10:20am and robbed the front desk cashier of an...

WATSONVILLE—After 33 years behind the wheel of the Toys For Tots program in the Pajaro Valley, coordinator and co-founder of the Santa Cruz County chapter, Delilah Valadez, handed out her final batch of toys on Dec. 4. Although Toys For Tots will continue, Valadez says...

WATSONVILLE—An attorney representing a group of people experiencing homelessness that has set up camp at a parking lot on Bridge Street has filed an injunction seeking a temporary restraining order against the city of Watsonville. Anthony Prince, general counsel for the California Homeless Union/Statewide Organizing...

In partnership with the city of Watsonville and the “Trash Talkers” volunteer group, Santa Cruz County on Dec. 17 hosted a cleanup along Corralitos Creek near Airport Boulevard and Pajaro Lane to highlight the expansion of the Community Action Board’s Watsonville Works program. Volunteers helped...

Fifth-grade students gathered at tables in Starlight Elementary’s multipurpose room one day in November, laughing with excitement and expectation, as they experienced new foods and recipes.  More importantly, they were discovering new flavors and textures and alternatives to their traditional diet through the “Cooking Club,”...

UPDATE (6:15pm, 12/19) The girl has been found safe, Watsonville police say. WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police officers are searching for a missing 7-year-old girl visiting from out of state.  Sophia Serrato was last seen this afternoon inside a Watsonville apartment on the 400 block of Rogge Street. Police...

Emergency workers team up to extricate a female passenger from a caved-in pickup on the 2900 block of Freedom Boulevard Friday. California Highway Patrol officer Michael Matildi said the male driver of a white GMC  Sierra Denali pickup was traveling north on Freedom Boulevard at...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police have arrested a Pajaro Valley Unified School District student who they say was threatening to commit a shooting at a school.  Neither district officials nor police are providing any information about the suspect due to their age. Also unclear is which school was...

WATSONVILLE—Hours after school officials warned that a challenge posted on the social media site TikTok could prompt young people to call in fake bomb and gun threats to their schools, a school in Watsonville received just such a threat. An anonymous message dated Dec. 17...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—All of the county’s four city police agencies—and the Sheriff’s Office—have similar policies when it comes to use of force and releasing of information to the public, according to a report released in November by the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz...