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Watsonville
January 3, 2026

Community ‘crisis’

Since the housing market rebounded in 2013, median home prices and rents have risen exponentially at the state and local levels, outpacing wage increases and housing production by a wide margin. The state identified an annual housing need of 180,000 units between 2015 and 2025, yet California has produced less than half of that number each year.

Community Bridges trades pints for vaccines at Watsonville pop-up clinic

Community bridges
WATSONVILLE—According to Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency, as of June 22, more than 146,500 county residents (that is, about 53%) have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. And more than 172,000 residents (62%) have received at least one shot. The numbers are promising. However, rates...

Recall effort against PVUSD Trustee Acosta fails

Georgia Acosta
WATSONVILLE—An effort to recall Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Georgia Acosta has failed after organizers were unable to gather the roughly 2,200 signatures needed before Monday's deadline to put it before voters. Efforts to recall Acosta began early this year after the Area II...

State grant will help Watsonville renovate City Plaza

Watsonville city plaza
WATSONVILLE—Less than a week after crews began construction of a new restroom in the City Plaza, the city of Watsonville was awarded a $3.5 million grant from State Parks to renovate the entire historic downtown park. The grant was announced Wednesday evening as part of...

Watsonville markets offering senior shopping hours

WATSONVILLE—Several local supermarkets are offering senior-only shopping hours in light of COVID-19, which poses a particular risk to seniors and the medically vulnerable. In Watsonville, Safeway is open to seniors and at-risk shoppers every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9 a.m.; Target dedicates its first hour...

Black and gold relics| About Town

Tarmo Hannula: I was passing through the office at Watsonville High School the other day and spotted a collection of patches from over the years sitting on a counter. These moments are always a great surprise for me because they’re so packed full of...

Watsonville Hospital nurses picket for safety standards

Watsonville nurses COVID-19
WATSONVILLE—About 50 nurses – most of them wearing bright red scrubs and improvised face masks – gathered along Nielson Street at Watsonville Community Hospital (WCH) Monday morning to protest what they say is a recent decision by hospital administrators to weaken safety standards for...

Four Covid-19 ‘clusters’ found in Watsonville

Watsonville coronavirus
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated from a previous version first published on May 22. WATSONVILLE—Four ‘clusters’ of Covid-19 cases have been identified in the Watsonville area, all of them associated with large family gatherings, according to Santa Cruz County officials. There have been at least...

Invocations hosted by the Santa Cruz Symphony April 6th & 7th

Final concert of our 2018-19 season on April 6 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium at 7:30 pm and on April 7 at the Mello Henry J Center For Performing Arts at 2:00 pm.

Pacific Collegiate School is accepting lottery applications in Grades 7-12 for the 2020-2021 school year.

Pacific Collegiate School is accepting lottery applications in Grades 7-12 for the 2020-2021 school year.
Discover PCS! Please complete the online application by 3/5/20 and attend one of the following information meetings if you have not done so in the last two years. An RSVP is required to attend a meeting. Spanish translation will be available at all lottery...
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Watsonville Community Hospital celebrates first new baby

Thomas James Paul Watson became Watsonville’s first baby of the new year, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 20 inches long when he...