News

A 19-year-old Watsonville man was arrested Thursday after an underage girl told police he had been sexually abusing her for several years.

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville bade goodbye to three outgoing members on Tuesday, two of them longtime leaders with decades of combined experience between them.  Lowell Hurst and Rebecca Garcia served for years on the council, including stints as mayor. Francisco “Paco” Estrada was elected in...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s newest charter school has moved into its new permanent location in the old Gottschalks building at 407 Main St., three years after opening at E.A. Hall Middle School. All of Watsonville Prep’s classes—spanning from transitional kindergarten to fourth grade—are now held in the new...

All 280 California State Parks have been closed to all day use visitors and all vehicles are being turned away during the COVID-19 outbreak. • The first case of COVID-19 was announced in Santa Cruz County on March 6 and now — three weeks later —...

WATSONVILLE—Governor Gavin Newsom on the final day of action for the 2019 legislative season signed Assembly Bill 1783, also known as the Farmworker Housing Act of 2019, which creates a streamlined process to build farmworker housing on agricultural land. The bill was authored by Assemblymember...

A light sprinkle fell over Watsonville Tuesday but for only about 15 minutes. The National Weather Service said there is also a chance of rain tonight. After that, the next chance of rain isn’t until Saturday. • A 5.8 earthquake rattled a portion of Northern California...

Man was walking on highway near Emeline Avenue.

WATSONVILLE—About two dozen farmworkers settled in on picnic tables at a Lakeside Organic Gardens field Wednesday for a fresh, healthy lunch featuring the very crops they harvest.  The meal was prepared by Charlie Hong Kong, a Santa Cruz Asian fusion restaurant that was Lakeside’s first...

WATSONVILLE—A 2017 report from SAGE, the country’s largest advocate for LGBT elders, found that roughly one-third of LGBT older adults live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Worse, that report also found that many members of that community deal with...

As the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week—and as money the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is set to dry up Nov. 1 unless deadlocked lawmakers reach an agreement—nonprofits across the U.S. are bracing themselves to help millions of people who could lose...