Watsonville mayor's update, March 2018
Please join us on Friday, March 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the historic City Plaza to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of our city.
Three ways to help friends in crisis
Memo from Pastor Rene
A friend who is a local marriage and family therapist told me recently she’s booked solid with Zoom counseling sessions every day. “People are feeling so much anxiety now,” she said, “more than I’ve ever seen in my practice.” Stress from...
A cleaner future
Like many agricultural businesses in the Pajaro Valley, Sambrailo Packaging, the Watsonville-based packaging company that has been involved in the agricultural industry for the past 94 years, got its start in apples.
Ag History Project looks ahead
WATSONVILLE—A buggy that once transported people along the streets of San Jose in the 1880s and ‘90s is now on display at the Agricultural History Project, restored and with a fresh coat of paint.
Hassan Zamani, who has volunteered with the AHP for two years,...
Kindergarteners visit Watsonville’s Crystal Bay Farm
WATSONVILLE—Thick fog rolled in and blanketed Crystal Bay Farm Wednesday morning, but the fields of the farm were teeming with life.
A group of kindergarteners from Valencia Elementary School in Aptos, along with parents and teacher Karen Richmond, were visiting the organic farm just off...
USDA announces increase to CalFresh benefits
WATSONVILLE—Starting on Oct. 1, anyone receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, known in California as CalFresh, will see a slight increase to the amount they receive each month.
The changes to the federal Thrifty Food Plan comes thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture...
Santa Cruz’s Charlie Hong Kong serves lunch to local farmworkers
WATSONVILLE—About two dozen farmworkers settled in on picnic tables at a Lakeside Organic Gardens field Wednesday for a fresh, healthy lunch featuring the very crops they harvest.
The meal was prepared by Charlie Hong Kong, a Santa Cruz Asian fusion restaurant that was Lakeside’s first...
Gaslighting the effects of tariffs
President Donald Trump continues to “gaslight” the country about the effects of his ever shifting tariff policies.
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation designed to intentionally mislead someone. When used over a considerable amount of time, we begin to doubt ourselves, believe an...
Wrapping up my tenure as Mayor
By Rebecca J. Garcia
The role of a Mayor is to provide leadership in the adoption of policy. Policy is a law, regulation or procedure that provides direction to better serve the community. I was excited to provide leadership as Mayor of Watsonville. I identified...
Photo story: preparing to shine with Noche de Brillo
Jeremy Sanders (right) and Aurora Torres construct a portable igloo that will be used for an arts and crafts stand at the upcoming Noche...























