News

By Ford Kanzler, Special to the Pajaronian The pandemic and the business closures that have come with it have hit many Watsonville residents hard. Two local institutions have stepped up to soften the blow. After schools closed in mid-March of last year, Pajaro Valley Unified...

Framing construction is underway on The Hideout restaurant that sustained massive damage in a fire in May 2019. Workers from Costa Bella Builders are continuing work on the exterior walls of the eatery, which is nestled beneath a canopy of redwoods at 9051 Soquel...

APTOS—Last fall, Cabrillo Gallery opened its doors to the public for the first time in 17 months. The annual “12x12: An Open Invitational” exhibit was a return to in-person viewing after a string of virtual shows. But with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 surging and...

WATSONVILLE—The LGBTQ Pride flag will fly in place of the city of Watsonville flag at the Civic Plaza in June after the Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution put forth by Mayor Jimmy Dutra, the city’s first openly gay person to hold...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Planning Commission on Tuesday will make recommendations for possible changes to the city’s cannabis ordinance. The Planning Commission’s agenda was not made available before press time, but a public hearing notice published in this newspaper stated the body would be making recommendations on...

WATSONVILLE—Plans for long awaited renovations to the Ramsay Park soccer fields are moving forward, Parks and Community Services Department (PCS) Director Nick Calubaquib said at Monday night’s Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Watsonville City Manager Matt Huffaker has asked Calubaquib’s department to seek bids for...

WATSONVILLE—A sweeping drug and weapons bust centered on the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, and headed up by the FBI resulted in the arrest of scores of suspects over the past few weeks, including an arrest in Watsonville Wednesday. At a press conference Thursday the FBI was...

APTOS—A local church kickstarted an initiative recently which has raised enough money to fund more than a million meals for Santa Cruz County residents. Citing “rising anger in our society,” Twin Lakes Church in Aptos decided to launch its “Acts of Kindness” initiative. The project...

WATSONVILLE—For the past 33 years, the Toys for Tots program has delivered tons of toys to children in the Pajaro Valley and around the nation, for Christmas. This year is no exception, despite a host of limitations from the ongoing pandemic. On Nov. 12, the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—When the pandemic hit one year ago, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS) was forced to shut down its Healthy Pets For All (HPFA) program, which offered residents free pop-up veterinary clinics. During the first months of the crisis, SCCAS found ways...