5 Things You Need to Know About Watsonville, Unless it's the End of Time

The End of Times may be Saturday.

According to some Christian scholars, God gave the date May 21 as "doomsday" in the Bible. There's some complicated math behind it, but the bottom line is, come Saturday, believers will be saved in the Rapture.

Everyone else will be left on earth for the next five months,the End of Days. Flooding, famine, locusts and large earthquakes will torment them until the world ends Oct. 21.

It's a lot to take in.

And if Saturday is Judgment Day, all of these news briefs below are irrelevant. If not, or if you think you'll be stuck around for the looting, pillaging and natural disasters sure to befall the world during the End of Days, read on.

The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter will host the Healthy Dogs Shots Fair from 1-4 p.m. on the baseball field at , 1301 Main St.

Dogs will receive free rabies shots,free  distemper/parvovirus shots, $10 microchips (includes registration) and information on low-cost ($20) spay or neuter options.

Participant dogs must reside in Santa Cruz County (includes all cities). Dogs must be 4 months old to receive a rabies shot and 2 months old to receive a distemper/parvovirus shot. All dogs must be on a leash. Services will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

“We hope to offer resources to the community that will improve the health and welfare of our area’s pets,” says Melanie Sobel, general manager of Animal Services.

Of course, this is totally unnecessary if your dog will be save in the Rapture. Do all dogs go to heaven?

The City Council is considering some service reductions, such as not taking police reports on non-injury traffic collisions and no longer awarding adult sports league winners trophies for every player.

The council met Tuesday at the Corralitos Padres Hall to rank some of the possible cost-saving measures. These wouldn't fill the budget gap enough to change the announced Thursday, but does help the bleak financial picture.

Other ideas include:

• Rent out the water resources facility for weddings and other special events
• Sell advertising on city trucks
• Stop picking up stray shopping carts
• Don't send cops to schools or homes for "non-criminal" incidents with kids
• Start sending emails reminding people of overdue books rather than mailing notices
• Limit how often the fire department responds to calls of people who fell out of bed at convalescent homes

No decisions were made Tuesday. The possible cuts will be presented before city councilors at public hearings in the coming weeks, if the world doesn't end.

The Central Coast Foreclosure Collaborative workshop, co-hosted by the Watsonville Law Center and Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, is 1-5 p.m. Sunday in the community room at the Watsonville Civic Plaza, 275 Main St.

Attendees will discuss options for homeowners facing foreclosure; reporting fraud and avoiding “rescue” scams; debt, bankruptcy, and credit counseling; and obtaining emotional support in the face of harsh realities. Spanish translation will be available.       

No word on if the workshop will happen if Rapture occurs Saturday.

Watsonville cyclist Ben Jacques-Maynes wrecked while racing the Tour of California on Thursday.

Jaques-Maynes went down in a crash of seven at the halfway point of the race, his team, Bissell, reported. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was treated for a broken collarbone.

His brother, Andy, another Bissell racer, crashed twice during the same stage but was able to get back up and finish.

The Tour of California started Monday in the Sierras after some delays because of bad weather. Thursday's stage took riders from Seaside to Paso Robles. The race concludes Sunday in Thousand Oaks.

The California Coastal Conservancy this week approved allocating up to $600,000 to the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County to augment the grant awarded on Dec. 4, 2008 for Phase 3 of the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program to design and permit 8-10 additional watershed restoration projects in San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties .... if the world doesn't end.

Whatever you believe, good luck Saturday. Live it up like it's the end of the world!