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Watsonville
February 4, 2026

Santa Cruz Symphony hosts Outreach Concerts for students

Children gasped and called out excitedly as the Santa Cruz Symphony played the first notes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at the Henry J. Mello Center on Tuesday morning.

Plans for organic farm at Watsonville Airport nixed

watsonville airport urban organics farm
WATSONVILLE—Plans by a local grower to transform a small plot of land owned by Watsonville Municipal Airport into an organic farm have come to an abrupt end. Adrian Mondragon, who owns Urban Organics, says he was evicted from the property in September after he and...

Dutra leading District 4 supervisor race

Jimmy Dutra
Early returns late Tuesday night show Jimmy Dutra ahead of his two opponents, with 47% of the vote, while Felipe Hernandez trails with 34% in the race for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat. Ed Acosta, meanwhile, is in third with...

PVUSD to hold special ethnic studies session

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold a special study session on March 28 to discuss the district’s ethnic studies curriculum, the board voted Wednesday. The discussion is not an action item, and there will not yet be a vote to...

City Council approves budget as calls for cuts to WPD continue

Watsonville budget
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a biennial budget that will keep Watsonville Police Department’s staffing at current levels, and invest roughly $7.5 million into a rebuild of Ramsay Park.  The decision came after two dozen people at the virtual meeting echoed a...

Watsonville delegation visits sister city

Watsonville Mayor Lowell Hurst and Councilman Felipe Hernandez signed a sister city agreement between the City of Watsonville and the Municipality of Jocotepec during a visit to Jocotepec on Sept. 15, finalizing the sisterhood relationship.

Temporary CEO leading Fairgrounds

WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Fair Board President Don Dietrich has taken over as CEO in the wake of the Oct. 4 dismissal of Dave Kegebein, and says he’ll stay at the helm as the Board recruits a replacement. It is unclear how long that could take,...

First baby arrives 44 minutes into new year at Watsonville Community Hospital

The first baby born in Santa Cruz County came 44 minutes into the New Year at Watsonville Community Hospital. At 12:44am Wednesday Magali Elias and Josué Reyes welcomed their first child, Ailany Galilea, to the world thanks to the folks at the Hospital’s Labor and...

Protesters hit the streets for May Day

In concert with scores of protests, marches and rallies around the globe on May Day—or International Worker's Day—Watsonville and Santa Cruz took to the streets in solidarity with workers, and to show displeasure with the Trump administration.  Waving signs and chanting theirdisapproval of the president’s...

New housing program helps farmworkers during Covid-19 pandemic

housing for the harvest
WATSONVILLE—Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 24 revealed a new temporary housing program that aims to help agricultural workers across the state better protect themselves and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic. Housing for the Harvest will offer temporary hotel housing to workers who need to...
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Jim Barsi talks about the sale of Barsi's Liquor Store in 2019.

Jim Barsi—owner of Barsi’s Liquor Store—dies

James Joseph “Jim” Barsi, who ran his eponymous liquor store on East Lake Avenue for a half-century before selling the business and retiring in...