Business

Labor Day Weekend is fast approaching, and many are looking to stock up on foods for barbecues and other outdoor gatherings. But this year is different, for both consumers and suppliers alike, and it has a lot to do with the current high price of...

Final touches are underway at the Olive Garden Italian Kitchen restaurant, the first such location for the chain business in Santa Cruz County.

With most people staying close to home during the pandemic, looking for things to do and ways to stay safe, local nurseries have seen an uptick in customers. Stay-at-home orders have prompted many to find new hobbies—and gardening has been a popular choice. Sierra Azul...

Hangar Way in Watsonville was already booming with activity by noon this Fourth of July, as Santa Cruz Cider Company held the first soft opening of its new tasting room.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Gyms, barbershops, beauty salons, places of worship and shopping malls across Santa Cruz County will all have to close their indoor services on Tuesday, county health officials announced Monday. Retail and existing outdoor restaurant operations are unaffected by the new county health orders...

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...

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,...

WATSONVILLE—Roaring Camp Railroads has struck a deal with Progressive Rail to provide freight services for Watsonville businesses. Santa Cruz Big Trees and Pacific Railway, a subsidiary of Roaring Camp, announced the deal on April 30 in a press release. Roaring Camp CEO Melani Clark said the...

SANTA CRUZ—Staff of Life, a popular natural foods market in Santa Cruz for more than 50 years, announced Monday that an employee tested positive for Covid-19. “We have made the decision to temporarily close after learning a member of our staff has been diagnosed with...

WATSONVILLE —  For more than 30 years Nicholas Diaz spent long workdays buried in the back of televisions and other broken appliances. He was living his dream of being a neighborhood repairman. That dream came to a horrific close Sept. 1 when he died in a car...