Watsonville High graduates reach finish line | Grads 2021
Asked to describe this year’s crop of graduates, Watsonville High School Principal Clara Fernandez lauded the 439 Wildcatz of the class of 2021 for their resiliency and determination to make it through more than a year of distance-learning instruction.
Roughly 99% of all seniors, Fernandez...
Substitute teacher no longer employed after racist rant
A longtime Pajaro Valley Unified School District substitute teacher is no longer working with the district after an expletive-laden, racist rant following a fender-bender was posted to TikTok on Monday.
PVUSD interim Superintendent Murry Schekman did not name the teacher, and did not confirm that...
Coalition seeks to improve health care in Pajaro Valley
WATSONVILLE—If a group of local medical professionals and nonprofit leaders has its way, a newly established healthcare district will one day own and operate Watsonville Community Hospital (WCH).
If those efforts are successful, it will likely come as a relief for South County residents who...
PVUSD trustees reject Medina censure
Editor's note: This story has been updated from a previous version.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees rejected a move to censure Trustee Gabriel Medina during a clamorous public board meeting on May 7 that included public outcry and bickering among board...
Late faculty member leaves $2.5M to Cabrillo College
APTOS—The Cabrillo College Foundation received the largest estate gift in its history from the late Tom Sourisseau, a former faculty member who died at the end of 2021.
The Anatomy instructor left $2.5 million in his estate plans that will support biology scholarships and faculty...
Pedestrian killed in Santa Cruz
SANTA CRUZ—A woman was killed Wednesday afternoon when she was struck by a semi near the intersection of River and Water streets, the Santa Cruz Police Department announced.
Witnesses said the woman was walking a dog around 3:15pm when she was struck. The driver stopped...
METRO soon rolling out electric buses
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Four new battery-electric buses will be ready to roll through the county by fall 2021 as part of METRO’s public transportation fleet.
The first two electric buses of the quartet will be used for the Zero-Emission Watsonville Circulator Operating Project. Through the project,...
Plan to revitalize Watsonville’s downtown in the works
WATSONVILLE—A two-year process to create a plan of action for Watsonville’s downtown got underway Wednesday.
A who’s who of city leaders, law enforcement officials, community program directors, downtown business owners, developers and housing advocates convened for the public meeting — the first of several planned...
Three arrested in October 2021 Watsonville homicide
WATSONVILLE—Two minors and a 20-year-old man have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the October 2021 murder of 21-year-old Abel Ruiz.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said deputies arrested Juan Carlos Almaraz Rios and two other suspects, who are not being...
A journey into the past with remnants in the present | Pajaro Valley, Past & Present
Editor’s note: This is the first entry in a monthly series about the history scattered throughout downtown Watsonville and the city at large.
For the past several months I’ve been getting around town, mostly by bus and on foot. Besides being a giant change in...
Order restored in Mexico, president says
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that order had been restored after a federal operation killed Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” the longtime...
