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Watsonville
January 12, 2025

King tides on the horizon

king tides capitola village
King tides, or the highest tides of the year, are expected to move into the Monterey Bay Area Wednesday through Friday. Dial Hoang, meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said high tides could reach around six feet around Monterey Bay and even 7...

Collision with pedestrian bridge shuts Soquel Drive

UPDATE: Soquel Drive has reopened. ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Westbound Soquel Drive at Cabrillo College is closed indefinitely after a trailer hauling an excavator struck a pedestrian bridge. The collision occurred at about 12:30pm at Cabrillo College Drive. California Highway Patrol is advising motorists to avoid the area, and...

Man who reportedly shot at family on Highway 1 arrested

Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Lt. Ian Patrick
A Hayward man has been arrested for taking multiple shots at a vehicle on Highway 1 in May, injuring a 3-year-old child and the male driver. Raphael Abduh-Salam, 33, is in custody in Contra Costa Jail. He will soon be transferred to Santa Cruz County...

New business to come to old Kmart building in Watsonville

kmart
A little more than two years after the former Kmart store on Freedom Boulevard closed its doors, the space will soon have a new tenant.  Vallarta Supermarket, which has more than 50 locations throughout California—the most recent one in Salinas—will occupy half of the 100,000-square-foot...

Inmates looking to new laws for sentence reductions

Two Watsonville men serving long prison terms are hoping that a series of new state laws will bring freedom sooner than originally expected. Vincent Marquez, who is serving a decades-long prison sentence for a 2008 burglary conviction, could see his sentence reduced this year due...

College Lake pipeline project shifts onto Riverside Drive

College Lake Pipeline Project
Starting Monday, construction work on the College Lake Pipeline Project in Watsonville will move onto Riverside Drive for the next six months. With around five miles of the pipeline now completed, and a mile left to go, the project will provide a 30-inch water main...

From fungus to fentanyl, new laws address variety of topics in 2024

Chanterelle mushrooms
Every year, California’s legislators send a flurry of bills to the governor in hopes he or she will sign them. And that’s before the byzantine legislative process that leaves most proposed laws on Assembly and Senate cutting floors. In 2023, the lawmakers sent off 1,046...

Watsonville Plaza redesign efforts underway

kathleen crocetti watsonville plaza sculptures
Plans are underway to install four larger-than-life sculptures in downtown Watsonville as part of an overall redesign of Watsonville Plaza.  While the historical gazebo/bandstand, designed by famed architect William Weeks, will still maintain its spot in the plaza center, ideas are being discussed to retrofit...

$2 million grant to fund youth mental health center in Watsonville

In a little more than a year, the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley will create a center where young people will be able to access a variety of mental health services. The creation of the allcove youth drop-in center is made possible by a...

Dog recovering from gunshot

oso dog
Watsonville Police are looking for the person who reportedly shot a dog on the Pajaro River levee near the Main Street Bridge Dec. 27. Officers responded to a call of shots fired shortly before 12:30am and found a dog suffering from a gunshot injury, Watsonville...
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Photo story: Fire damages Watsonville home

NIGHT BLAZE Firefighters from around the Pajaro Valley stage a battle against a fire that erupted in a single-story home on the 100 block...