News

WATSONVILLE—City of Watsonville staff at Tuesday’s meeting will ask the Watsonville City Council to declare the vacant Kmart property a public nuisance, citing “illegal camping, lack of sanitation, inoperable or abandoned vehicles, excessive noise,” and a “violation of the City’s zoning laws.” If the City...

Pajaro Valley Unified School District would likely have enough voter support for a $315 million bond if it went on the November 2024 ballot. That was the message to the Board of Trustees Wednesday from Dale Scott, whose eponymous consultancy company conducted a straw poll...

Forty-three young people got a front row seat this week in what it is like to be a police officer, thanks to the second annual Watsonville Police Youth Academy. Staged at the Pajaro Valley High campus, the free one-week course (July 10-14) is designed to...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Police Department is looking for a suspect who reportedly fired several shots at a man on the 100 block of Jeanette Way on Sunday. The victim was not injured in the shooting, which occurred approximately 3 p.m. WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido stated in...

The American Crown Circus, Circo Osorio, has set up at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds for a series of shows. From clowns and jugglers to acrobats and magicians, the variety show, designed for people of all ages, will run several times a day through...

SALINAS—A Watsonville man who seriously injured a woman in a DUI crash nearly one year ago was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in state prison, Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Merideth Sillman said. Noel Ledesma, 39, is in custody in Monterey County Jail.  He...

SCOTTS VALLEY—As the acreage continues to grow in the CZU August Lightning Complex fires, the number of people fighting the blaze on the ground and from the air is also growing. According to Cal Fire, there are 1,611 firefighters fighting the 78,000-acre blaze out of...

While likely still years in the future, passenger rail service in Santa Cruz County moved a step closer to reality Thursday when the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission unanimously approved the Unified Corridor Investment Study (UCIS), an in-depth look at local transportation infrastructure and ways in which to bolster it.

When Vanessa Quiroz-Carter and Maria Orozco were sworn in late last year as Watsonville’s Mayor and Vice-Mayor, it was only the second time in the city’s history two women have held the roles. The first was in 2019, when Rebecca Garcia and Trina Coffman-Gomez sat...