News

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Seventy-two members of the California National Guard got a warm thank you Sunday for their efforts with food distributions, staffing evacuation centers and more during the coronavirus pandemic and the CZU August Lighting Complex fires. On top of gift bags stuffed with Santa...

WATSONVILLE—Author Lisa Algee says that she has always considered herself a logical, “left-brain” thinker. After growing up in Southern California, Algee moved up the coast, attending Cal Poly University to major in biology before landing in Santa Cruz. She eventually received a doctorate in science...

Two women pick up their free ice cream from Older Adults Services Supervisor Katie Nuñez at the Watsonville Senior Center during the first-ever Drive-Thru Ice Cream Social on Saturday. Roughly 90 older adults cruised through E. 5th Street center to claim their free treat. 

A group of volunteers has painted a large Black Lives Matter mural on a stretch of Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz in front of City Hall. The project was spearheaded by Santa Cruz artist Abi Mustapha, with help from Arts Commission Vice-Chair Sean...

Editor’s note: This is the fourth entry in a series of interviews with candidates running for office in the upcoming local elections. Interviewees will include candidates for the Watsonville City Council, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, the Pajaro Valley Water Management...

WATSONVILLE—The second phase of “Watsonville Brillante,” a five-year community art project spearheaded by local organization Community Arts Empowerment, kicked off this week. Another 1,200-square-foot mosaic featuring the artwork of Watsonville-born artist Juan Fuentes is being situated on the six-story garage adjoining the Watsonville Civic Plaza....

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Arts’ gallery at 37 Sudden St. has once again open its doors after six months of being shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The State of California is now allowing most counties to reopen museums, aquariums and galleries at a limited capacity, after...

Do you have a recent photograph you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to [email protected] or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as the name...

With the pandemic outbreak, most of us heard this warning many times: Stay at home. But that could have been softened a little bit with: “Stay at home and in the garden.” Because, for many of us, that’s what happened: People started plowing deep...

SANTA CRUZ—A Watsonville man was arrested Monday on suspicion of homicide in a 16-year-old case regarding the death of his stepdaughter, Dilcia Mejia, in Florida.  Raul Mata, 46, has been charged with first-degree murder, the Miami-Dade Police Department said. The Homicide Bureau, Cold Case Unit,...