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Watsonville
June 6, 2025

Body found along Pajaro River Levee

The discovery of a man's body along Pajaro River levee Thursday has prompted an investigation by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were dispatched for a report of a body at 5am. A forensic examination on Friday determined the person was a male, but officials did...

Pajaro River Levee project at risk after Trump claws back some funding

pajaro river levee alex padilla jimmy panetta
President Donald Trump has taken millions of dollars already allocated to blue states—and reallocated the funding to red states—impacting a wide array of ongoing critical infrastructure projects, including the Pajaro River Flood Management Project. In a press conference Thursday,  U.S. Democratic Senators Alex Padilla and...

Watsonville City Council hears plans for Tiny Village

The Tiny Village project in the parking lot of the Westview Presbyterian Church is set to break ground at the end of May or in early June, and is expected to provide shelter for 34 homeless people. Community Action Board (CAB), which will manage the...

Senior Council sees major cuts

Proposed budget cuts by the Republican-led administration in Washington, D.C. could be bad news for local seniors, with a plan to eliminate Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs, a program of the Seniors Council in Santa Cruz County. Clay Kempf, executive director of the Watsonville-based...

Supervisors get look at revised budget

If the Trump administration moves forward with plans to make sweeping cuts to health and human services as it hammers out its current budget, it will have far-reaching and profound impacts nationwide. This includes to Santa Cruz County, where one-third of the people who receive...

Adult school celebrates its graduates

A nearly packed Mello Center saw the first graduation of the season in Pajaro Valley Unified School District Thursday evening with 173 graduates of Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education crossing the stage to collect their diplomas, degrees and certificates. In fields including high school diplomas, GEDs,...

Photo story: The circus is in town

Circus Alegria, a Las Vegas-based circus entertainment group that has been around since 1912, kicked off their 2025 performance Thursday evening in Watsonville. With their massive big top tent dominating the entrance to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, the shows will run Thursday through...

Photo story: History fair a success

A man gathers information at the table for the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Saturday during the Santa Cruz County History Fair at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple. Over 30 tables, from Boulder Creek and Scotts Valley, to Davenport, Capitola, Santa Cruz and Watsonville, filled...

A pageant win, a beautiful career

Araceli Gonzalez was at a crossroads in life looking for a new start when she went to a concert and saw a group of women dressed in vintage clothing from the 1940s and ’50s. “I said, ‘I want to try that style,’” she said. “And...

Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora retiring after three years

The City of Watsonville on Thursday announced that Police Chief Jorge Zamora is retiring, with his last day set for Aug. 30. The retirement will end a law enforcement career of more than three decades. Zamora began as a police cadet when he was 15, and...
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Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo

How Farmworkers Outlawed ‘El Cortito’ 50 Years Ago

For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept...