Spicing up his life: Former tech engineer launches new food venture
APTOS—As a young man, Bapcha Murty moved from his native Chennai, India to attend UC Los Angeles and become an engineer. He went on to a career in the Silicon Valley tech industry that spanned more than two decades in several companies.
But when Murty...
Photo: Busy weekend for Boardwalk as rides reopen
Limited rides at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk reopened April 1 following state public health guidelines. Boardwalk rides have been closed since March 2020 due to Covid-19, although they operated for a brief time in November. Ride reservations, which have been selling out daily,...
Organic produce sales up 9%, tops $2B for the quarter
Total organic fresh produce sales for the first quarter of 2021 saw a continuation of last year’s growth, increasing by 9.3% from the same period in 2020 and topping $2.2 billion for the quarter, according to the Q1 2021 Organic Produce Performance Report released...
In the family for six decades
Hilltop Mini Mart, 1007 Salinas Road, has remained family-owned since 1956.
Brothers slice into downtown: Plans for pizzeria in historic downtown building
Two Watsonville brothers — one a trained chef and the other a community organizer — plan to reopen a shuttered downtown restaurant to serve New York-style pizza and mugs of craft beer.
Watsonville electronic repair shop takes projects big and small
WATSONVILLE—You have probably walked or driven past the sliver of a shop on East Lake Avenue scores of times and not spotted Alltronics TV Repair.
And you might not guess that the one-man operation, in business for close to four years, is a quick and...
Photo: National 9 Motel in downtown razed
A crew from Randazzo Enterprises use an excavator to demolish the National 9 Motel in downtown Watsonville Wednesday to make way for a four-story, 80-room Hilton Home2 Suites hotel.
Approved as a La Quinta Inn by the Watsonville City Council in 2016 and revised...
The Farm House opening in Watsonville
WATSONVILLE—If Dino Saavedra had it his way, he would open his new Watsonville restaurant this weekend.
“My dad just wants to start cooking already,” Saavedra’s daughter, Andrea Saavedra, said. “I think we’re all excited to open up.”
Dino and Andrea Saavedra will have to keep a...
Watsonville Staff of Life set to open March 30
WATSONVILLE—Staff of Life grocery store has for a half-century been a backbone of healthy eating and living in Santa Cruz County, selling organic food and natural products long before those concepts hit the mainstream.
Founders Richard Josephson and Gary Bascou launched the business as a...
Watsonville baseball coach Tige McSwain now in charge of football program
Watsonville High didn’t have to look too far in its pursuit of a new head football coach for the upcoming 2026 fall season.
The school...





















