71.5 F
Watsonville
July 4, 2025

Highway 1 project kicks off

highway 1 groundbreaking
LIVE OAK—A group of local officials and community members gathered under a small mid-county parking lot located near Highway 1 Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking for a massive construction project expected to transform the corridor and revolutionize travel countywide. Construction on phase 1 of...

District 4 candidates talk water, affordable housing at forum

Watsonville evictions
WATSONVILLE—The three candidates vying for the Fourth District seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors squared off in a forum Tuesday night, touching on transportation, housing and other issues affecting the county. The forum was hosted by the Santa Cruz County Chamber of...

Paycheck Protection Program again under scrutiny after list of recipients released

paycheck protection program watsonville
The half-trillion-dollar loan program advertised as a lifesaver for the country’s struggling small businesses is again under fire after the Small Business Administration on Monday released a list containing hundreds of recipients of the program, revealing that several private equity-backed chains owned by members...

Smoky curtain hits SC County

A smoky wild land fire near Fairfield in Solano County cast an eerie veil of smoke over Santa Cruz County Sunday.

Flocking for a cause

For a man as accustomed to unusual calls as Watsonville’s Fire Chief, Pablo Barreto started his day on Wednesday with an unusual one.

Aptos High athletic field to be named after Bobby Salazar

Bobby Salazar Aptos
WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted unanimously to name Aptos High School’s lower athletic field after Bobby Salazar, who spent four decades as school custodian and who was so involved in the community he was known as the...

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.

Beach Boardwalk surviving tough times

SANTA CRUZ—The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has reshuffled its offerings in hopes of dealing with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  While all of their rides have been shuttered since March, the Boardwalk has recently started holding drive-in movie nights on the corner of Beach and Third...

Banners installed to celebrate 2020 graduates

PVUSD posters
WATSONVILLE—Last year, Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez was looking for a way to get the community more involved in local public education.  When visiting other cities such as Gonzales, she noticed they were creating and installing banners in their downtowns, featuring...

Lawsuit against city, airport advances

watsonville airport lawsuit United Flight Services
WATSONVILLE—A lawsuit against the city of Watsonville and the municipal airport will move forward after a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a motion to dismiss it. The plaintiff in the case is United Flight Services (UFS), which sued the city in...
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What Makes Watsonville Community Hospital—and America—Great

Thirty-three years ago, while my family was preparing for a birthday party, I decided to arrive early. My mother was shopping for a cake...