Arts & Culture

WATSONVILLE—From an early age, Marc Sander could tell he thought and felt a bit differently from his peers. One day, while playing basketball with a group of kids in his neighbor’s driveway, he became increasingly frustrated with how they were playing the game. They...

Todd Guild Freedom Meat Lockers One of my favorite things to do for lunch in Watsonville is head over to Freedom Meat Lockers, which in addition to its high-quality selection of carnivores’ delights, also offers a deli counter. Normally when I hear the word ‘deli’ I cringe,...

Japanese director Makoto Shinkai made a name for himself when he released “Your Name” in 2016. The fantasy-drama about two teenagers who swap bodies achieved global critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Japanese animated film of all time. Shinkai followed this success with “Weathering With...

WATSONVILLE—For the second year running, a group from Watsonville’s Filipino community is releasing a calendar highlighting family histories.  The “Watsonville is in the Heart” calendar is part of the Tobera Project, an ongoing project aiming to preserve, honor and celebrate that history, especially those of...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Daniel J. Story was a second-grader living in the Midwest when the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck California on Oct. 17, 1989. He recalls it flashing on the news, and his teacher being worried about people she knew in the area. But Story admits...

WATSONVILLE—Juan Carlos Pozo Block has spent the past two decades teaching in Watsonville, working with students from various backgrounds and levels of education. This year, that experience culminated in a new book in which the author, who goes by the pen name JC Pozo, shares...

For rapper and singer Kabwasa, staying connected to his hometown of Watsonville is a priority—even as he makes waves in the music scene in Los Angeles. Raised in a house just off Rodriguez Street, Kabwasa was surrounded by music from an early age. He attended...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville Parks and Community Services Department and the County of Santa Cruz will host a Drive-Thru Trunk-or-Treat event Friday between 4:30-7:30pm, or until supplies last. Families are invited to drive their vehicles through Ramsay Park, 1301 Main St., starting at the Main...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—For years, the annual “Nutcracker, Clara's Dream” was a winter holiday staple put on by the Santa Cruz Ballet Theater. With their own take of Tchaivovsky’s ballet, that was typically staged at the Santa Cruz Civic, Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater and the...

Female-dominated cast puts fresh twist on classic story WATSONVILLE—Watsonville High School drama instructor David Scott believes that author S.E. Hinton would appreciate his stage adaptation of her 1967 novel, “The Outsiders.” Under the suggestion of her publisher, Susan Eloise Hinton had used her first and middle...