News

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council promoted longtime Assistant City Clerk Irwin Ortiz to the municipality’s top clerical position at Tuesday night’s meeting. Ortiz has been with the City of Watsonville since 2010. He started as an intern for the city manager’s office before moving into the...

WATSONVILLE—In a bizarre ending to a Tuesday night public meeting that puzzled and agitated a majority of the Watsonville Planning Commission, the body gave no recommendation on whether a Watsonville charter school should be allowed to continue to operate in an industrial zone on...

WATSONVILLE—In 2020, Arts Council Santa Cruz County formed the Watsonville Stewardship Committee for the Arts to bring resources, build spaces and improve access to the arts for South County residents. That group of artists, teachers, political leaders and city of Watsonville staff spearheaded the creation...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County launched a pilot program on April 8 to provide free menstrual products in restrooms in select county facilities, including at the Watsonville center on Freedom Boulevard. The program aims to assist low-income residents who struggle to afford menstrual products, said...

WATSONVILLE—Since 2019, local artist Jessica Carrasco has organized the Born and Raised in Watsonville scholarship, aiming to support youth while spreading positivity about her hometown. The scholarship is funded through sales of Carrasco’s line of Watsonville-themed stickers and other fundraising efforts in the community.  Students can...

Hundreds of visitors flocked to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) on April 9 to celebrate the launch of a new digital history archive. The Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) Digital Archive aims to preserve the histories and contributions of Filipino-Americans...

WATSONVILLE—Assemblymember Robert Rivas has named Erica Padilla-Chavez, the CEO of Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, as Woman of the Year for Assembly District 30. The March 30 announcement came as part of an annual Women’s History Month observance by the Legislative Women’s Caucus. “Erica has...

WATSONVILLE—In September, a hastily-organized event dubbed Nerdville drew more than 800 comics fans, collectors and geeks of every ilk to celebrate superheroes and share their love for a genre that has captivated the world since The Phantom debuted in 1936. Friends of Watsonville Parks and...

WATSONVILLE—The musical group Rosa Azul is set to perform Sunday at Studio Judy G on Main Street.  The quartet, which describes itself as “a new ensemble of professional musicians that perform some of the best Mexican music with a polished flare,” will perform in the...

For the past two years the Dan & Lillian King Foundation, which aims to advance the learning of the U.S. Constitution, has sent scores of eighth-graders from Monterey County schools to see live productions of the Tony Award-winning show, “Hamilton: An American Musical.” Hundreds of...