News

I passed through miles of Watsonville’s agricultural fields today under gray, overcast skies. The strawberry harvest seemed to be going full blast, with loaded up flatbed trucks packing the fruit off to warehouses. Scores of workers dotted the fields on either side of San...

A tiny home development for 34 homeless people slated for the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville can move forward after the City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal by a neighbors’ group that has been battling the placement of the project...

WATSONVILLE—When thousands of attendees file into the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in September for the annual county fair, they can expect the east end of the grounds to look much different than years prior. If all goes according to plan—and government agencies work at hyper-speed...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Measure M, a $350 million bond that would fund much-needed renovation and construction projects at every school in the district, is so far passing by a narrow margin. Measure M would raise $18.3 million annually by placing $60 per $100,000...

Capitola Police arrested a 58-year-old woman Dec. 1 on suspicion of being the driver in a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian on Nov. 18. “Capitola Police Officers successfully located and arrested Aurora Lopez, a 58-year-old resident of Soquel,” Capitola Police said in a statement....

Alex Solano was selected to participate in the 2018 Honor Flight Central Coast, where he joined other veterans on an all-expenses-paid three-day trip to national monuments and memorials dedicated to service members in Washington, D.C.

PRUNEDALE—A 35-year-old Watsonville man was injured in a butane honey oil lab explosion in Prunedale Monday. Francisco Ponce was in the area when Monterey County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the 16000 block of Meridian Road around 3pm to investigate a report of an explosion. Ponce...

WATSONVILLE—Following the tremendous success of the first-ever Holiday Lights Drive-thru at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds during Christmas, the 2021 Drive-Thru Crab Feed proved to be another booming hit Saturday. Fairgrounds Foundation spokesman Ron Haedicke said they sold out all 472 meals in the inaugural...

PRUNEDALE—Former Watsonville mayor Luis Alejo, who previously served on the California Assembly and now sits on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, was arrested Friday on drunk driving charges. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Jessica Madueño, officers on patrol in Prunedale just before midnight...

The 2025-26 fiscal budget which cuts several positions, reduces operational fees and implements a five-year capital improvement plan.