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WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District students will wait at least two extra months to return to their classrooms, the district’s trustees unanimously voted Wednesday. The district was planning to begin a hybrid version of in-person learning starting in January, but a recent surge of Covid-19,...

Valencia Elementary School was closed Friday after numerous students were sickened by what is likely norovirus. The school will reopen Tuesday. Pajaro Valley Unified School District notified parents in an email on Nov. 7. “The purpose of the school closure is to stop the additional...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police are investigating a shooting that happened Friday afternoon on the 700 block of Rodriguez Street in Watsonville. Numerous witnesses called 911 to report the shooting around 3:45pm. When police arrived moments later they found eight bullet shell casings on the sidewalk beside an...

Editor's note: This story was updated from a previous version. WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees late Sunday night voted unanimously to rescind the recent dismissal of Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez after a seven-hour special meeting. The trustees also unanimously nominated Jennifer Holm as...

WATSONVILLE—A large gathering of people celebrated the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Virgin Mary Sunday at Pinto Lake County Park. Based on Catholic tradition, the virgin appeared to a young boy, Juan Diego, in Mexico in 1531. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe...

“This is who I wanted to be; this was my dream and I am where I have always wanted to be,” said Ohlone Elementary School custodian Raúl Gonzales.  He has now put in 42 years at various schools, starting out at Freedom School in 1979....

A man suffered at least one stab wound Thursday afternoon in Capitola. Capitola Police, aided by Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies and the California Highway Patrol rushed to the 1800 block of 44th Avenue where they located the victim suffering from a stab wound to...

WATSONVILLE—About two dozen farmworkers settled in on picnic tables at a Lakeside Organic Gardens field Wednesday for a fresh, healthy lunch featuring the very crops they harvest.  The meal was prepared by Charlie Hong Kong, a Santa Cruz Asian fusion restaurant that was Lakeside’s first...

WATSONVILLE—Local author Jaime Cortez always had nicknames, and now one of them has become his first book. “Gordo,” a paperback collection of stories, is quickly gathering praise after its release by a national publisher in August. And while “Gordo” is Cortez’s first widely distributed work,...