Photo story: Hundreds gather to protest
Around 200 people gathered at Watsonville Plaza Thursday as part of a nationwide movement to protest the Trump administration’s attack on civil and human rights. Organized by Indivisible Santa Cruz County, local union groups, Black Voters Matter, and others, the “Good Trouble Lives On”...
San Juan Road operation not related to immigration
On Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, the California Department of Cannabis Control, the FBI and the DEA amassed at a business on the 1400 block of San Juan Road in Monterey County to serve a search warrant...
PVUSD trustees approve SRO program
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved contracts with Watsonville Police Department and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to place uniformed law enforcement officials at the district’s three comprehensive high schools as school resource officers (SROs).
These SROs will...
Long-awaited pedestrian bridge opens over Highway 1
As the usual weekday rush-hour traffic began to build up on Highway 1 in Mid-County Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that commuters were facing yet another interminable slog on their way to their destinations.
But one thing was different.
The first pedestrians and bicyclists began to use...
New art installation completed on Green Valley Road
Five new painted monoliths now adorn the recently completed pedestrian/bike path along Green Valley Road.
The Green Valley Road Multi-Use Project was managed by the Department of Community Development & Infrastructure, while the art component was managed by the Santa Cruz County Parks Department....
Photo story: Watsonville kicks off Second Saturday Art Tour
Viridiana Lopez (right) heads up a Zumba dance session in Watsonville Plaza Saturday during the soft opening of first-ever Second Saturday Art Tour. Artists around the Pajaro Valley launched the free, monthly three-hour event with the theme, “Bring your family, bring your neighbors—let’s make...
Man arrested in levee death
Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested a Pajaro man for the murder of Watsonville resident Jesús Alfonso Duarte Figueroa, whose body was found buried along the Pajaro River levee in April.
Bernardino Rickie Sanchez, 61, was booked into Monterey County Jail in lieu of...
Valle del Pájaro park opens in South County
Santa Cruz County officials on Friday cut the ribbon on the first new park to open in South County’s unincorporated region in decades.
The 38.5-acre Valle del Pájaro (Valley of the Birds) County Park, under the mantle of Department of Parks, Open Space and Cultural...
Students visit from Croatia
Four high school students from Croatia arrived July 2 in Watsonville from the Student Ambassador Exchange Program of the Slavic American Cultural Organization (SACO).
They are part of Watsonville’s Sister City program they share with Cavtat, Croatia.
Using Watsonville as their home base, their visit includes...
Health providers sound alarm on OBBBA
A group of state lawmakers and local medical providers gathered Tuesday at the Santa Cruz Community Health Center in Live Oak to sound the alarm on President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA).
Despite its name, the bill will remove millions of people...
Outgoing Chief Zamora celebrated
Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora (left) is recognized by detective Colin Travers Friday during a farewell lunch at the Watsonville Police Department. Following 33...