About Town

Tony Nuñez: On a tear-filled night, Watsonville councilwomen Rebecca Garcia and Trina Coffman-Gomez were sworn in as mayor and vice-mayor, respectivley, Tuesday. Garcia, a Watsonville native who has more than 30 years of experience in politics, replaced Francisco "Paco" Estrada. Estrada will continue on the council...

I sure welcome the cooler weather. Heavy fog rolled in Sunday afternoon in Santa Cruz and hung around through the morning, dropping temps significantly from the past several days. The sun broke through in Watsonville for part of the day but the fog won...

Observations from around Watsonville.

Tarmo Hannula: On Sunday there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Laundry Day Laundromat, 35 East Lake Ave. in Watsonville. The ceremony is from noon to 2 p.m. • Are you ready for a new cell tower embedded in a towering fake tree on...

Tarmo Hannula: The San Francisco 49ers just barely edged past the Seattle Seahawks last night in a cliffhanger finale. The 49ers have not beaten the Seahawks in Seattle since 2011. The harrowing closure ultimately came down to a mighty blunt tackle by Dre Greenlaw...

Smoke is back. The Zogg Fire has burned through 87 square miles and is only 39% contained. The Glass Fire, at 92 square miles, is threatening 29,835 homes and has led to the mandatory evacuation of the entire town of Calistoga in the popular...

Musician Eric Schowacherg was out performing a string of popular Holiday tunes on his violin in downtown Santa Cruz, over the weekend. • A Watsonville man died early Friday morning in a solo-vehicle crash on Amesti Road. California Highway Patrol officer Sam Courtney said, however, that the...

I was out by the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse and Santa Cruz Surfing Museum yesterday and saw the workers from Cardiff Pest Control had the lighthouse wrapped in a  termite extermination tent. It was surreal, to say the least. Loads of folks were stopping...

A painting crew has been busy adding a fresh coat of paint and a new look Thursday and Friday to the long-standing Beach Street Cafe on West Beach Street. Help is on the way for small businesses hit by sweeping closures, layoffs, and downsizing because...

I stopped by the watsonville Certified Farmers Market today, my first such visit in months. While I was glad to see the market up and running, the skimpy showing of people was a bit disheartening. However, I was there before 1:30pm and figured it...