News

Members of the community continued to push back against the introduction of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to Santa Cruz County at a community workshop on July 30.  The workshop—which more than 30 people attended–was held by the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment...

Local law agencies found a large stash of illegal firearms ammunition following a routine car stop. According to the California Highway Patrol, officers in April stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in Santa Cruz County. The officers learned that the driver had a suspended...

Thousands of people filled downtown Watsonville Saturday on day two of the three-day Strawberry Festival.  As the fog broke apart and blue sky took over, people were treated to live music, scads of strawberry-theme food and drinks, carnival rides, arts and crafts, an open-air beer...

Workers on Friday were installing 34 tiny homes that will be part of Recurso de Fuerza, a community meant to house homeless residents living on the Pajaro River Levee. The village in the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church at 118 1st St. in. Watsonville,...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing body on Wednesday took the first step toward allowing students to vote in district elections and help choose the trustees that represent them. The board voted to form an ad-hoc committee that will talk to students, families and community...

Watsonville’s Freedom Bakery—the oldest family-owned bakery in the Monterey Bay region—is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, marking five decades of providing the community with cakes and other desserts.  The bakery was founded in 1975 by Tony Liu, a Taiwanese immigrant who came to the...

A team of 60 volunteers that included children, teens and adults took gardening implements in hand on July 24 to plant flowers at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in preparation for the upcoming county fair Sept.10-14. “Our fairgoers always appreciate the bright colors and atmosphere...

On Tuesday, as most of their peers were enjoying the waning remainder of their summer breaks, several groups of young people were sitting in classrooms, as math teachers and professors showed them the fundamentals and formulae of the math skills they will need in...

MEDICAL EMERGENCY Watsonville firefighters deal with a solo-vehicle rollover on Thursday, where an SUV barrel-rolled down a hillside on Main Street. Watsonville City spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said a man driving a Mazda SUV appears to have had a medical  emergency while driving past the...

The body of a 15-year-old male who went missing July 23 in Watsonville in the Laken area off of Holohan Road was found in the waters of College Lake over the weekend. Nicholas Magana-Zamora was last seen around 11am on July 23 after leaving his...