About Town

I saw groups of people hanging out in the City Plaza downtown today. Scores of shoppers came and went from the Target store on Main Street. At times traffic looked near normal along Main Street and Freedom Boulevard. I saw a line of about...

Parts of Watsonville changed into a plywood canyon early Thursday after a bizarre poster started circulating on social media threatening "barbaric" protests in the Overlook Shopping Center. Though Watsonville Police took the threat seriously, no violence erupted over the night. However, scores of businesses...

Tarmo Hannula: When my friend Noel, a family attorney, dropped me off in downtown Watsonville early Wednesday I walked into the Second Street Café for a coffee. For years I’ve carried my own reusable thermos to save on throw-away cups. In line I got...

Tarmo Hannula President Donald Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House of Representatives on two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. We’ve all heard Trump’s unending list of labels for this: lies, sham, fraud, hoax, shameful, scam, witch hunt, distortion, untruthful, mean, disastrous...

Numerous businesses continue to keep their windows covered with large sheets of plywood in downtown Watsonville and at the Overlook Shopping Center on Main Street. The move was triggered Wednesday night by someone who posted a notice promising “barbaric protests" Thursday as part of the...

November 14, 2019 Tarmo Hannula: I stopped by Freedom Meat Lockers in Watsonville Wednesday and the place was abuzz with customers stacking up their Thanksgiving meal orders, among other things. Manager Will Panis said now is the time to get orders in as things are...

In Watsonville today my wife Sarah and I stopped in at Monterey Bay Caterers, 152 West Lake Ave. Owner Ken Schwan helped me preorder two take out dinners a few days ago—their beef Wellington and a chicken Cordon Bleu. Ken said you simply take...

Tarmo Hannula: The New China Buffet, on the ground floor of the 1871 Mansion House on Main Street in Watsonville, has closed. The historic building, once seated at the corner of Main Street at East Beach Street (once named Third Street) was eventually moved...

Today is Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day, is typically a day when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. The holiday has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia. The festival was largely created to celebrate the coming of spring. At the...

Tarmo Hannula It’s the last day of January 2020. • I noticed a paint crew has started a major paint job on the historic home on the corner of East Beach and Lincoln streets. That’s the towering white place with tall majestic columns, almost identical to the...