News

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Postmaster is warning residents to take steps to prevent mail theft after several recent thefts have been reported throughout the city. According to Postmaster Alejandra Alvarado, there have been as many as three reports per week since November of stolen mail and packages,...

Tarmo Hannula: On Sunday there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Laundry Day Laundromat, 35 East Lake Ave. in Watsonville. The ceremony is from noon to 2 p.m. • Are you ready for a new cell tower embedded in a towering fake tree on...

WATSONVILLE—Seventeen students earned their diplomas at New School in Watsonville this year. Principal Rafael Ramirez said he was “enormously proud” of his graduates, adding that the pandemic brought on extra challenges for staff and students. “But they worked hard and we got through,” Ramirez said. “We’re...

SANTA CRUZ—A UC Santa Cruz student who lives off-campus has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in self-isolation, UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive announced Friday. “The student was last on campus March 16 and is doing well,” Larive said. The university is coordinating with local public health...

SANTA CRUZ—A Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy assigned as a correctional officer in the jail has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship win an inmate, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley Keehn announced Saturday. Jessica Smith was charged with sexual activity with an inmate, assault by...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a spending plan for the district’s third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which comes through the American Rescue Plan as a way to help schools nationwide recover...

A pair of students from a Santa Cruz-based home school program took a top prize earlier this month at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles.

Michael McCollum, who worked as staff photographer at the Pajaronian from1987 to 1996, died March 9 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 67.  Born on April 27, 1957, to Garland McCollum and Katherine Fromm-McCollum in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, Mik was 2 when the family moved...

I stopped by the pumpkin patch on Soquel Drive just south of Dominican Hospital recently. They were offering tractor pull rides as part of all the fun. • Election Day is a week away and the ads keep piling up. I’ve seen Yes and No on...