Business

WATSONVILLE—Cilantro’s Parrilla Y Cantina recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, and the Mexican restaurant is not slowing down even with shelter-in-place orders in effect. The business remains open seven days a week, albeit with a limited staff, and is still offering takeout orders of about 90...

WATSONVILLE—The developer behind a 150-unit housing project off Ohlone Parkway is asking the Watsonville City Council for a one-year extension on the project’s approval. First approved by the council in 2018 as Sunshine Vista, Hillcrest Estates was set to transform an 11-acre junkyard at 511...

A little more than two years after the former Kmart store on Freedom Boulevard closed its doors, the space will soon have a new tenant.  Vallarta Supermarket, which has more than 50 locations throughout California—the most recent one in Salinas—will occupy half of the 100,000-square-foot...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council will hold a study session on food trucks near the end of its Tuesday evening virtual meeting. The item was included in the meeting’s agenda released Thursday evening, but there was no staff report attached to it, causing confusion and worry...

WATSONVILLE—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to purchase properties on Westridge Drive in Watsonville, and to relocate several county services there. The move, which will consolidate five separate departments into a building at 500 Westridge Drive, is expected...

On March 7, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County hosted one of the organization’s most popular events of the year.

AROMAS—The community of Aromas is home to about 2,650 residents. The rural area is nestled in the juncture between Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, and attracts a variety of people, including many retirees, artists, farmers, nature lovers and activists.  But is also home...

WATSONVILLE—The historic Mansion House in downtown Watsonville is searching for a new, hip tenant. The New China Buffet permanently closed its doors at the end of 2019 and the Tufo family is looking to fill the 3,800-square-foot space at 420 Main St. with a new...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is once again looking to fill the historic Porter Building in downtown. City officials on Nov. 12 released a request for proposals (RFP) for the sale or long-term lease of the two-story, 15,000-square-foot building at the corner of Main and Maple...

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a multistep strategy aimed at rapidly shifting Americans from gasoline-powered cars and trucks toward electric vehicles—a central part of his plan to reduce the pollution that is heating the planet. Biden is first restoring and slightly strengthening auto mileage...