Family Owned For 35 Years • Aptos, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Freedom & Watsonville
Times Publishing Group, Inc. 2026©
August 15 2026 • Vol 35 No. 16
www.tpgonlinedaily.com
Teen Hero Recalls Harrowing Rescue
Ryder Williams, the 16-year-old lifeguard who has been recognized nationally for his heroism in saving the life of 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai, recently gave an interview for California State Parks about what he recalls from the day. On Saturday, July 25, at Seabright State Beach, Williams, who works as a California State Parks lifeguard, was filmed saving the life of the boy. Full Story page 4
Cesar Chavez to become Central Coast Middle School
Stanford Study Questions School Closures
Concludes Savings Hardly Outweigh Lost Revenue By JON CHOWN The timing of the study and its conclusions create more questions for the district’s Sustainable Schools Advisory Committee as the school district grapples with shrinking enrollment and budget deficits.
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Local Girl Scouts Visit U.S. Capital
Two local high school students spent part of their summer in Washington, D.C., learning how a national organization makes decisions — and one of them helped lead the meeting from the stage. Callia “Lia” Goulding, a freshman at Santa Cruz High School, and Madison Baker, a junior at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville, attended the 58th National Council Session and the Girl Scouts Unite event. Full Story page 9
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WATSONVILLE — As a committee of stakeholders from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District prepares a recommendation for possibly closing schools to address declining enrollment and financial challenges, a newly released Stanford University study concluding that school closures generally fail to improve a district’s finances is hard to overlook.
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