News

WATSONVILLE—Five years after Michael Escobar gunned down a rival gang member, and killed a young girl when one of his bullets went astray, a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder and several special allegations. Escobar, now 36, will likely be sentenced to...

WATSONVILLE—Rebecca Garcia could not wait to start her mayorship. Days before the longtime public servant was sworn in at the tail end of Tuesday night’s Watsonville City Council meeting, she had already had multiple meetings with City Manager Matt Huffaker and asked him to prepare...

United Presbyterian Church to close Tarmo Hannula: The United Presbyterian Church on East Beach Street is slated to have its last service Jan. 5 before they close. The congregation has been around Watsonville since 1860. Our reporter Johanna Miller will have an article with more...

WATSONVILLE—Two boys were seriously injured early Tuesday morning when a car struck them as they crossed Walker Street. Watsonville Police Sgt. Donny Thul said the boys, ages 11 and 12, were using a crosswalk to cross Walker Street from east to west at West Lake...

WATSONVILLE—Local realtors and brokers are urging the community to be aware of an online rental scam that is taking advantage of desperate renters. The scam strips information from sale listings on various websites, repackages them as hyper-affordable rental listings and posts them on sites such...

SANTA CRUZ—After Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Johanna Schonfield displayed for a jury a photo of 4-year-old Jaelyn Zavala dying from a bullet wound – and as jurors and the girl’s family members wept at the sight – she turned to the man accused...

Watsonville - Friday, December 13, 7:30pm @ Henry Mello Center for the Performing Arts And Featuring the WCB Youth Band The Watsonville Community Band held its first summer Youth Band program in 2016. The success of that program led to its continuation during the school...

Dec. 9, 2019 Watsonville taking applications for public art projects Tony Nuñez: The City of Watsonville is taking applications for four public art projects that will be located on publicly or nonprofit owned property. The winning applications will receive a $1,000 grant from the city for their...

WATSONVILLE—Hundreds flocked to the Veterans of Foreign Wars station in Watsonville to gobble down some breakfast and tell jolly old St. Nicholas their Christmas wishes at the 29th annual Breakfast with Santa on Sunday. Droves of kids and parents waited in line to saddle up...

WATSONVILLE—Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health Services showed off its new South County facility Friday, a building that has allowed the agency to more than double its space and bring an expanded offering of mental health services to the Watsonville area. The building at 1430 Freedom...