‘Tis the season: Fairgrounds offers Holiday Lights drive-thru event
WATSONVILLE—Two local organizations are hoping to shine a brilliant holiday light during troubling times.
The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Foundation and the Agricultural History Project are in the midst of crafting the first-ever Holiday Lights Drive-Thru event as an alternative celebration for the holiday season...
Drive-throughs a deal-breaker in proposed business park
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously voted against granting a special use permit for a proposed business park at Main Street and Auto Center Drive.
Boos Development Group, Inc. was seeking the permit so that it could construct two drive-throughs alongside roughly 20,000 square...
Watsonville Wetlands Watch receives $3.2M grant
Watsonville Wetlands Watch was recently awarded a $3.275 million federal grant to boost its tree planting and education programs.
Its project, called Growing Tree Canopy, Climate Resilience and Green Jobs Pathways in the Pajaro Valley (PV Trees), will build upon its established urban forestry program...
Hero kids honored by local leaders
WATSONVILLE—Two local boys were recognized by multiple local leaders at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Adrian Maldonado, 11, and Edwin Rodriguez, 12, received certificates, gifts and recognition from Watsonville Mayor Francisco Estrada, Santa Cruz County Office of Education Superintendent Faris Sabbah, Watsonville Chief of Police David...
College Lake project moves forward
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency has entered agreements with two engineering firms to help plan for a project that will help the area achieve sustainable groundwater resources by 2040.
The College Lake Integrated Resources Management Project will use rainfall runoff to replace a portion...
Former Watsonville Police DARE officer dies
WATSONVILLE—Mike Ciglar, a retired Watsonville Police Department officer and fixture in the local law scene for 30 years, died Oct. 15 at 62.
A longtime Watsonville resident, soft-spoken and easy going, Ciglar, among other things, played a huge role in community involvement and served at...
Sept. 11, 2001: Paying respect
Following several tunes on bagpipes, scores of firefighters, garbed in their cumbersome turnouts, boots and helmets, climbed up and down a lengthy wood staircase at Seacliff State Beach — a symbolic gesture of the emergency crews that rushed into the World Trade Towers and raced up the stairs to rescue victims.
Photo: Leaders visit homeless camps looking for solutions
Leaders from the federal, state and local levels teamed up Friday to tour homeless camps in Santa Cruz in hopes of getting a better grasp of homelessness and to develop a plan to deal with the crisis.
The two dozen officials, including Congressman Jimmy Panetta,...
Notable laws taking effect in 2025
California lawmakers in 2024 introduced 4,821 bills, but most of them did not become law, having been tossed or otherwise rejected during the months-long legislative process during which most never saw the light of day.
Just 1,206 made it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, with...
Si Se Puede opens new 30-bed facility
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Watsonville, Encompass Community Services celebrated the opening of a new Si Se Puede behavioral health campus on Miles...





















