Watsonville Strawberry Festival back to a three-day event
The Watsonville Strawberry Festival is returning in full force this year, back to a three-day event for the first time since 2019.
The popular event runs this Friday through Sunday and will include food booths, many featuring strawberry-themed treats, as well as a beer garden,...
NEXTie recipients unveiled
Event Santa Cruz recently announced this year’s NEXTie winners after reviewing more than 2,500 nominations.
Classic ride | Photo Gallery
Do you have a recent photo you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to [email protected] or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as...
Longtime political activist Glen Schaller dies
Glen Schaller, whose grassroots work touched nearly every aspect of local progressive politics for the past four decades in both the Central Coast and throughout California, who led campaigns for numerous elected leaders, and who joined the battle for LGBTQ+ equality long before it...
Piano ensemble raising funds for student music scholarships
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—For the past 19 years, the Celebrate Piano Ensemble (CPE) has provided local pianists a way to explore pieces for two pianos (four to eight hands), all the while aiming to benefit school-age music students in Santa Cruz County.
CPE’s annual February concert...
Harkins Slough Road gets makeover
WATSONVILLE—Work is now complete on a pedestrian, bike and traffic safety project on Harkins Slough Road.
The job, which is part of a city-wide project to address transportation safety issues, runs between South Green Valley Road and Ford Street and includes a swath of Walker...
Juvenile whale washes ashore
A 29-foot juvenile humpback whale washed up at the shoreline at Manresa State Beach.
Soquel man dies in solo-vehicle crash
APTOS—A Soquel man died in a solo-vehicle crash early Saturday morning, California Highway Patrol officer Alyssa Gutierrez said.
Just before 1am Carlos Deleon, 42, was traveling west on Soquel Drive in a 2005 Pontiac G6. For unknown reasons, Deleon lost control and smashed into a...
Watsonville Hospital’s former owners ‘grossly negligent,’ face lawsuit
The former owners of Watsonville Community Hospital are facing a lawsuit alleging that they took more than $3.9 million for their own use, and that their mismanagement led the hospital to bankruptcy and to the brink of financial ruin.
Halsen Healthcare was removed from its...
Demolishing the past for a new Starbucks
A piece of Watsonville’s history was torn to the ground Monday as a wrecking crew demolished the Taqueria Mi Tierra restaurant on Freedom Boulevard.
The building was once a popular A&W drive-in restaurant, Rosa’s Mexican restaurant and Mi Tierra until they closed last year.
Plans now...
Man missing at sea in Big Sur
A man was swept from the rocky shoreline at Soberanes Point at Garrapata State Park Saturday and is reportedly still missing.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s...




















