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Watsonville
January 17, 2026

Stay loyal, stay local: Gift ideas from around the Pajaro Valley

Looking for places to shop for loved ones this holiday season? You don’t have to rely on Amazon or other large retailers—instead, look into small, locally-owned stores right here in the Pajaro Valley. Contact the stores directly, follow on social media and check out...

Small businesses look to holiday shoppers for support

WATSONVILLE—On Nov. 28, Watsonville joined the annual nationwide shopping movement known as Small Business Saturday, which aims to encourage shoppers to support businesses in their community. The event had a number of small stores at the East Lake Village Shopping Center opening for special...

Unexpected decor | About Town

In my travels about town, I’m always on the lookout for something different, original, funny for the camera. One such find was on Cutter Drive the other day. It was the front half of a motorcycle emerging from the front of a garage. Different,...

Newsom: new stay-at-home order likely to hit Central Coast

Watsonville coronavirus
SACRAMENTO—New stay-at-home orders issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday will be based on intensive care unit capacity in five regions in California. Newsom said that much of the state will likely be under the stay-at-home orders within the next few days if ICU capacity...

With increasing need, food banks worry about ‘food insecurity’

food insecurity santa cruz county
WATSONVILLE—One year ago, a report by UC Santa Cruz’s Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise and Participatory Governance and Second Harvest Food Bank painted a grim picture of hunger in Santa Cruz County. According to the report, some 83,000 residents were living in households earning...

Santa Cruz County nursing home reports 4 Covid deaths, nearly 100 cases

Watsonville coronavirus
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Officials at Pacific Coast Manor have reported that 61 of their residents and 37 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. Four residents of the skilled nursing facility in Capitola have also died of Covid-19 complications, the facility reported Wednesday. Sixteen of the...

Correctional officer party likely cause of new Santa Cruz County outbreak

Santa Cruz county jail
By Jake Pierce, Good Times News Editor There are now 10 confirmed Covid-19 cases among correctional officers in the outbreak at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. Also, seven officers are in isolation while they quarantine due to possible exposure to the novel coronavirus that’s driving the...

Santa Cruz, Monterey counties certify election results

Santa Cruz County Elections
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—In one of her final acts before her retirement at the end of the year, Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin on Tuesday officially certified the results from the 2020 presidential election. More than 86 percent of county voters—a total of 146,857—cast ballots...

Camp Krem in need of help for rebuild

camp Krem
When the Santa Cruz Mountains caught fire in August after a lightning storm passed through the Central Coast and greater Bay Area, almost every community was forced to evacuate the area. Many of those evacuees were left wondering whether their homes and businesses—their life’s...

Gov. Newsom announces assistance for Covid-impacted businesses

newsom covid-19 assistance
SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the state will provide temporary tax relief for eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Under the plan, taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax receive an automatic three-month income tax extension. It also...
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New leadership, shared priorities: Investing in the future of public safety

As we begin a new year, I want to reflect on the direction of public safety in Watsonville and the leadership helping guide that...