News

California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Tuesday introduced legislation intended to speed up the $400 million rebuild of the Pajaro River Levee.  Assembly Bill 876 would expedite the work by exempting certain aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The bill would also weigh...

A large mosaic mural was installed this week on an exterior wall at Tabasa Gardens, a new apartment complex at 1482 Freedom Blvd. The 10-by-30-foot mosaic was created by Watsonville artist Kathleen Crocetti and a team of volunteers at Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center. The topic...

The County of Monterey has ended its Non-Congregate Shelter (NCS) program, which has supported Pajaro flooding victims since March. Families in need will still have access to housing services, but County officials have moved the program closer to its homeless services providers.  Under the program—estimated to...

A rapidly spreading wildland fire broke out Wednesday afternoon around 1:30pm, forcing people from their homes and scrambling to save pets.  By the time firefighters arrived, flames were charging up a steep wooded hillside on the 100 block of Vega Road while a towering column...

Congresswoman Barbara Lee visited Watsonville Monday evening as part of her campaign to gain the seat of outgoing U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. After an introduction by Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, Lee took to the podium at Jalisco’s restaurant where more than 100 people welcomed her.  Representing California’s...

Next year, work crews will kick off a $400 million project to rebuild the levees in South Santa Cruz and North Monterey counties and keep the rivers and creeks from escaping and devastating the surrounding communities. That long-anticipated work will be a relief to the...

The Watsonville area is set to get its first county park in decades. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of a 38.5-acre parcel on Whiting Road, an unused patch of low-lying woodland that sits between two agricultural fields,...

Watsonville Community Hospital is one of 17 medical facilities in California that will receive immediate multimillion-dollar financial assistance in the form of zero-interest loans from the State of California. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced the $300 million Distressed Hospital Loan Program. Locally, this includes...

Watsonville Brillante, the massive, 10-phase outdoor mosaic project in Watsonville, has just been named Best in Show in the Mosaic and Glass Arts International 2023 exhibition series in Buffalo, New York.  Lead artist Kathleen Crocetti of Watsonville learned of the prestigious announcement Wednesday. “When I first...

A new 800-foot mural is in the making on a retaining wall along Main Street between Pennsylvania Drive and Clifford Avenue. With a theme of Pajaro Pollination, artists from the Made Fresh Crew of Santa Cruz started the project Aug. 15 and brushed on the...