News

WATSONVILLE—Large changes are unfolding at the Watsonville Senior Center at East Fifth Street after the City of Watsonville took over operations on Nov. 1. The City will pump $176,000 from its 2019-20 general fund into the Senior Center, and also hire an Older Adult Services...

Thanks to the efforts of a group of local students and artist Jaime Sanchez, a new colorful mural has been added to an outdoor wall of the Family Center in Ramsay Park. The 65-by-15-foot work, titled "The Bigger Picture,” stems from the Teen Artes program...

With election day approaching, voters have several state propositions from which to choose. Below is a brief description of each of them. For a deeper dive, visit voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions. Proposition 2   Public School and Community College Facilities Under Prop. 2, the state would sell a $10 billion...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted unanimously to appoint a member to fill the seat vacated when Maria Orozco joined the Watsonville City Council. The Board could have also filled the Trustee Area 6 seat in a special election,...

Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies investigated a potential threat to Aptos High by a student Sunday, and determined the threat via social media was meant as a joke.

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Police Department officers arrested a 15-year-old who they say was seen near Watsonville High School with a loaded handgun on Monday. A Watsonville High campus supervisor notified the school’s resource officer who then relayed the call to nearby officers, WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said. The...

SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a Soquel man suspected of more than a dozen counts of sexual assault of a child. Luis Ortiz, 59, was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. According to Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ashley...

WATSONVILLE—A long-awaited major street and sidewalk improvement project on a block of Lincoln Street that bisects Watsonville High School is moving forward. The state-funded Lincoln Street Safety Improvement Project will shorten crosswalks, make the sidewalks ADA compliant, and add a mid-block crosswalk, additional lighting, new...

In a weed-strewn, vacant lot on Airport Boulevard Tuesday, Bryan Hilgeman was busy around his makeshift tarp dwelling where he lives, along with about 40 people in the unsanctioned homeless camp. He says he’s been unsheltered since his wife died two years ago.  When the city...

A light sprinkle fell over Watsonville Tuesday but for only about 15 minutes. The National Weather Service said there is also a chance of rain tonight. After that, the next chance of rain isn’t until Saturday. • A 5.8 earthquake rattled a portion of Northern California...