Community voices support for PV Arts Porter Building pitch
WATSONVILLE—More than two dozen community members at Tuesday night’s Watsonville City Council meeting showed resounding support for the Pajaro Valley Arts Council’s planned rebuild of the historic Porter Building, a City of Watsonville-owned property at the gateway of downtown. And a competing proposal from...
PHOTO: Know your local businesses
People pour into the Seascape Golf Club Wednesday afternoon for the 33rd annual Business Showcase put on by the Aptos and Capitola-Soquel Chambers of Commerce.
Consent agenda: City sells lot to Ow family
WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday sold the Resetar Parking Lot in downtown to the Ow family for $542,850.
The 40-space lot at 535 Main St., also known as Parking Lot No. 4, is used daily by multiple businesses in downtown, including county-wide nonprofit Community...
New Watsonville shop features vintage clothing, candle making and more
After researching and running multiple pop-up venues, Eve Ayala and her wife, Teresa Madrigal, have swung open the doors to their new shop, TBH (To Be Honest).
“We're locals, born and raised in Watsonville,” Ayala said. “We are second generation Mexican women. Our shop comes...
New ice cream shop opens
A new ice cream shop has opened in Watsonville that offers a high-end brand of ice cream popular in Mexico.
Thriving among the giants
APTOS—Sitting in the cab of a 25-ton Caterpillar excavator, Stephanie Siqueiros works the levers of the dinosaur-like beast to swivel the mechanical arm to reach across the pavement and attach a large scoop bucket. Nimbly, she attaches the bucket, its steel teeth facing skyward,...
Local companies gift Second Harvest new parking lot
WATSONVILLE—Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County has been distributing almost twice as much food to local families than usual.
As such, the organization’s parking lot is now full of distribution and refrigeration trucks, forklifts and storage containers. Staff, volunteers...
County businesses achieve ‘green’ status
Four Watsonville businesses will join 19 others across the county in receiving Green Business Certificates.
Watsonville Yoga offers something for everyone
When Phoenix Artemisia decided to open a yoga studio in Watsonville in 2016, no other location around the city grabbed her attention more than downtown.
That was despite some pushback from friends, who had concerns about her safety and that of her clients.
Artemisia, ever the...
City budget buoyed by sales tax revenue ‘bubble’
WATSONVILLE—Despite the economic shutdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the city of Watsonville’s overall sales tax revenues have held steady thanks to a myriad of reasons, including a sharp rise in online and local shopping.
That’s according to Administrative Services Director Cindy Czerwin who at...
Jim Barsi—owner of Barsi’s Liquor Store—dies
James Joseph “Jim” Barsi, who ran his eponymous liquor store on East Lake Avenue for a half-century before selling the business and retiring in...





















