News

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...

WATSONVILLE—After years of playing on an ankle-twisting field pockmarked with scores of gopher holes, the students of E.A. Hall Middle School will soon have a new athletic field. The synthetic turf field—yet to be given an official name—will be ready for use when students return...

WATSONVILLE—“It’s been a crazy, crazy, crazy crazy year,” Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Daniel Dodge, Jr. said Wednesday, just before the board appointed trustees Kim De Serpa and Maria Orozco as President and Vice-President, respectively. They will hold the positions until December 2022. In addition...

WATSONVILLE—On an emotion-packed night that featured warm sendoffs for several city staffers, Ari Parker stepped in as Watsonville’s mayor during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. A lifelong Watsonville resident and an educator for more than three decades, Parker was sworn in by Assistant City Clerk Irwin...

WATSONVILLE—Scores of kids were treated to a free visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus Wednesday during the first of a three-day Santa Tour. “It felt so good to see Santa,” said Maria Navarro of Watsonville who showed up with her son, Christian Ramos. “This is...