ROAD CONDITIONS: Highway 1 Into Big Sur Is Now Open. Learn More > Stay Two Nights and Get Your Third Night Free Book and host your meeting before April 2025 and save up to $10,000 Don't miss the biggest veggie event on the central coast! Castroville hails the violet-thistled veggie with the Castroville Artichoke Festival at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center farmers and folks who like to celebrate! The festival includes a first-rate parade a car show and lots of arts and crafts vendors A highlight of the event includes choosing the Artichoke Queen following the footsteps of the first queen crowned in 1948–Marilyn Monroe AI Powered by Mindtrip https://www.facebook.com/CastrovillePoppyHouse/ Castroville – Springtime in the Lone Star State is synonymous with bluebonnets These bountiful blooms are the first sign of spring’s arrival and from Brenham to Fredericksburg you can find fields full of our state’s flower this time when we have the poppies blooming like this it’s something I never imagined I’d be doing,” said Llloyd And the thing I like when it’s this time of year is visiting with the people that come.” Lloyd is the proprietor of the poppy house you have a beautiful garden,” and “Everybody says I looked like Willie Nelson,” said Llloyd While Willie likes a different kind of flower Lloyd loves his poppies and despite the fact he’s been maintaining this field full of them for over 15 years “They’re very particular to the ground “But I can’t tell you any rhyme or reason why they grow in a certain area and why they do not it almost seems as if these flowers have a mind of their own and they can grow in especially well-drained areas “But I’ve seen them in other areas too that they’ve grown where they shouldn’t be growing one or two sitting there just by their lonesome It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention and for Lloyd it was a drought that made him give up on maintaining a yard full of grass because all I was doing is just creating dust when I mowed the weeds,” said Lloyd “And this was a sure-fire way to cut back on the work I’d have these weeds growing up that looked very nice and I wouldn’t have to do anything for two or three months After serving in the Air Force for 18 years and living a quiet life and his dog Jack started to become the talk of the town “Sally and I were sitting out here relaxing on a Saturday morning one time and we see this procession of cars coming up past the funeral parlor,” said Lloyd Folks from across the state would come to Castroville to take pictures of the poppies and who wouldn’t want to include a pup in that pic “He was the main attraction out here,” said Lloyd With the Poppy House becoming such a popular place Lloyd eventually started charging a small fee for folks to come and take professional pictures While some of those funds do help maintain the property the majority of them are donated to the American Legion and the local VFW post They’re a big important part of our history So they sacrifice quite a bit through the number of years that they’ve served and this is a good way for us to go ahead and help those people out.” Lloyd himself hit a rough patch over the past few years with the loss of his fiancé and his best friend “It’s hard doing it without both Sally and Jack And we enjoyed being with Jack out here and watching him enjoy himself Lloyd’s passion for this place burns as bright red as these poppies fueled by memories of the ones he loves and by the joy he brings to others “So I’m going to be officially old next month So hopefully I’ll have another good 10 years under my belt to go ahead and continue on this tradition May need some help later on in the upcoming years (KION-TV) -- A KION reporter was on the scene Tuesday evening around 5 p.m after reports of a mobile home fire broke out in Castroville Meliton Gonzalez lives in a home damaged by the fire He recalled the scary moments when he saw his place was on fire one is surprised by the anguish that the family is imprisoned inside the house and then tries to get there as soon as possible to see what is going on," said Gonzalez He says he only had materialistic items in the shed and is glad only materialistic things were lost Meliton and his family say they were told they would have to live outside of the home for at least 2 to 3 weeks The American Red Cross is paying for their hotel stay in the meantime Crews on the scene say that there were no human injuries in this incident but one dog has been confirmed dead in the aftermath of the fire there was a scare after bullets and larger devices were discovered A bomb squad was nearly called out over the chance of explosive material in the home yet that was avoided after a Sheriff's Deputy confirmed that the devices were made for display rather than being functional and volatile North County Fire tells KION it will be hard to determine what caused the fire after everything inside the home was destroyed North County Fire also said that when they arrived on the scene made it out safely and are being aided by the American Red Cross Dania Romero is an reporter at KION News Channel 46 I’ve been an international professional writer and performer for over 25 years I find the intersection between all of these skills lands itself somewhere under the term “storytelling.” KION 46 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here EEO Report | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines | FCC Applications | Do Not Sell My Personal Information Show Breaking News BarCloseLocal NewsAvery Everett Alexis Montalbo SAN ANTONIO – An accident-prone intersection on San Antonio’s West Side could soon see upgrades The City of San Antonio and engineering firm Pape-Dawson have completed a traffic study on a stretch of Castroville Road specifically between 36th Street and General McMullen Neighbors have spoken out about speeding and a lack of pedestrian safety for years Pape-Dawson presented three options for moving forward that it studied: only one permanent traffic light intersection has been funded That is the one at Castroville and Dahlgreen said construction has been delayed for this project but it’s expected to start in August or September ”We wanted this project to be done last month or last year We want to finish this one and go to other projects The other two proposed signalized intersections would intersect at Castroville Road at SW 34th Street and Madrid Street the president of the Westwood Square Neighborhood Association said their community needs time to process the three options and decide what will be the best fit “We’ve been waiting for so long,” Pena said There is no timeline right now for the city and community to pick which option will be pursued for Castroville Road The traffic study found that this corridor’s crash rate is four times the statewide average Copyright 2025 by KSAT - All rights reserved Alexis Montalbo is a photojournalist at KSAT 12 Email Newsletters KSAT RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us KSAT Internships Careers at KSAT Closed Captioning / Audio Description Public File Current EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info FCC Applications Copyright © 2025 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Company adds plans for a second campus in Castroville Microsoft is building more data centers outside San Antonio In a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Microsoft detailed plans to build two single-story data center buildings (SAT89 and SAT90) at 2995 US HWY 90 W in Castroville The $765 million project is set to run from June 2025 to July 2027 The two buildings are set to total 489,400 sq ft (45,500 sqm) Engineering company WSP is listed as the design firm on the project Microsoft already has a major existing presence around San Antonio and is developing a separate campus in Castroville The tech giant is developing several data centers – SAT 80, 81, and 82 – at 8844 Farm-to-Market Road in Castroville 27 miles west of downtown San Antonio in Medina County The Farm-to-Market Road campus is located to the north of Castroville while the new campus is set to be located west of the city the company has data centers in operation and development across 3545 Wiseman Blvd Microsoft opened its first South Central US Azure region in Texas in 2008 It also opened a US Gov Texas Azure region in 2017 Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia Texas - A suspicious package that was donated to a location in Castroville caused concern on Monday According to the Castroville Police Department a suspicious package was donated to a donation station near the 1100 block of Highway 90 An X-ray of the package allegedly caused concern to the San Antonio Police Department Bomb Squad and the package was detonated with two separate charges on the package about 20 minutes apart The package was found to have no explosive type of materials A new vegetable is taking over: Artichokes! The Artichoke Trail features a selection of restaurants and farms in Monterey County, including the town of Castroville Download the Artichoke Trail Map here (KION-TV) -- A man from Castroville was arrested after a search warrant during a traffic stop on Wednesday afternoon According to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office near Merrit Street as they stopped the driver Arias was discovered to have an arrest warrant Arias was a convicted felon prohibited from owning ammunition After obtaining a search warrant for Arias's home on McDougall Street in Castroville another MCSO deputy found a half-pound of methamphetamine and a stolen handgun Arias was taken into the Monterey County Jail for multiple charges including possession of a firearm and possession of meth Sergio Berrueta has been in the news for quite awhile going from studying print media to entering the realm of broadcast Berrueta started his professional news career in Eureka as a newscast producer for North Coast News (now The Northstate’s News) at KAEF ABC 23 in 2022 He pivoted a year later in 2022 going from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera as a multimedia journalist for Redwood News Channel 3 (KIEM/KVIQ) also in Eureka Berrueta studied journalism at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) earning his Bachelor’s Degree social media manager and editor-in-chief of the university’s El Lenador the only bilingual publication in all of Humboldt County Berrueta had earned his Associate’s Degree at East Los Angeles College in 2019 after beginning his educational journey in 2012 He also was on staff for the ELAC’s publication Berrueta has also been in education as an AmeriCorps tutor in East Hollywood from 2017 to 2019 and served in a government role as a National Hometown Fellow for Lead for America with the City of Arcata in 2021 Berrueta is an avid amateur cinephile having written about films in free time attempting to get through a backlog of video games enjoys visiting new places along the California Coast and trying to keep up with the latest music and podcasts Show Breaking News BarCloseLocal NewsIvan Herrera SAN ANTONIO – A former Castroville police chief has been convicted of a wire fraud charge connected to a scheme to fake a vehicle theft Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas Christopher Filline was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court He was indicted in January 2020 in connection with a scheme he developed in 2016 to defraud Farmers Insurance Group by destroying his vehicle and claiming it had been stolen Filline had two co-conspirators take the vehicle and light it on fire using an accelerant before he filed a false stolen vehicle report with the Lytle Police Department and an insurance claim with Farmers Insurance Group Filline was paid $14,388.25 from the insurance company after filing the report FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the conviction and a $250,000 fine Copyright 2024 by KSAT - All rights reserved has worked as a journalist in San Antonio since 2016 His work for KSAT 12 and KSAT.com includes covering consumer and money content Show Breaking News BarCloseLocal NewsStephania Jimenez Adam Barraza Justin Rodriguez CASTROVILLE, Texas – This election season, we’ve had the pleasure of hitting the road and talking to many of you about the issues you care about. Through “Your Voice, South Texas,” we created a safe space for you to share the things that are motivating you to vote a 30-minute drive from downtown San Antonio Castroville leaders have openly spoken about the challenges that come with growth: management and preservation of the area’s heritage You can see that when you come in from San Antonio who also admit they’ve been hard by inflation “Things are more expensive...my groceries have gotten more expensive. If I could afford to pay myself more, I would. But...I really have to...keep a tight budget nowadays,” said Evan Elmendorf, 25, who owns the Magnolia Filling Station in downtown Castroville Others told us they’re concerned about immigration and crime that’s motivation for me to vote...things need to change,” said Deborah Hoffman KSAT also spoke with someone who urged voters to reject negativity and hyper-partisanship ahead of the election “I think the biggest thing is...to understand each other Not everything has to be so black and white Not everything has to be so judgmental,” said Anthony Inchaustegui KSAT has also shot episodes of “Your Voice Read the latest election and political headlines on the Vote 2024 page. See the full ballot here and information on where to vote here More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter Adam Barraza is a photojournalist at KSAT 12 and an El Paso native after earning a degree from San Antonio College and the University of the Incarnate Word He’s also a diehard Dodgers fan and an avid sneakerhead Matthew Craig SAN ANTONIO – Marco Lopez moved to Westwood Square in 1968 “People just take off like they’re on the speedway,” Lopez said “They were not as aggressive as they are now,” Lopez said Castroville Road has earned an unsafe reputation “It’s not safe at all,” resident Jesusita Rios said Residents like Rios said the stretch of the Castroville Corridor between Southwest 36th Street and South General McMullen Road is dangerous KSAT 12 has reported on these concerns for nearly a year The city said it’s in the final stages of its traffic study we will go to the community to get input and implement,” City of San Antonio Public Works director Razi Hosseini said traffic flow and land use to provide safety recommendations Once the study is complete at the end of September Hosseini said the proposed fixes are not a done deal “We will need probably additional funding,” Hosseini said A permanent traffic signal at the intersection of Castroville Road and Dahlgreen Avenue has been confirmed Hosseini said the design is also expected to be finished by the end of this month Construction is slated to start by the end of the year “How many tragedies need to happen before somebody does something to address the problem?” More related Castroville Road coverage on KSAT: Spirits are high in the class I’m crashing on an April night at a community center in Castroville sit in folding chairs while the language teacher a region in northeast France that passed back and forth between that country and Germany over the centuries leads us in a song praising a schnitzelbank That’s the Alsatian word for “workbench,” a fitting muse for this crowd of industrious Texas Alsatians most of whom trace their lineage back to Castroville’s founding We practice two more songs: “S’Elsass Unser Landel!” (“Alsace Our Land!”) and “Texas Our Texas.” The class’s organizer we will sing these as the Alsatians get off the bus.” In less than two weeks more than fifty visitors from France will arrive in Castroville which has a population of about three thousand to attend the annual Alsatian Festival of Texas For residents of a town known to resist the intrusions of fremde or “outsiders,” these Castrovillians are a fun and friendly crew telling me about traveling to the motherland “Walk into a bar in Alsace and say you are from Castroville and you might get all of your drinks for free,” Haby says.  Buzzed on the bonhomie, I walk to my room at the cozy Landmark Inn on the banks of the Medina River. Built in 1849 as a home, it became a hotel four years later. On this spring night, Castroville’s streets feel closer to Europe than to San Antonio. The French Gothic cathedral and the petite pioneer homes with steep-pitched roofs look as if they were plucked from the Vosges mountains.  I pause at a tiny shoebox of a former church, tucked into the grounds of what was a convent but is now Moye Retreat Center With a creaky wooden door latched by a single hook this was the first permanent structure built when empresario Henri Castro accompanied by shiploads of Alsatians seeking a fresh start The descendants of the same people who laid this rock were singing songs with me a few blocks away And while residents here seem firmly anchored in the past Locals are instead relying on a shared history to face the future When we walked across the street and stood under the marquee of the Rainbow Theater he told me it would reopen in a few months and that its debut films would include a documentary about Castroville’s remaining Alsatian speakers who’s 38 and lives with his four children in Castroville is one of the leaders working to protect its distinct charms as the inexorable sprawl of San Antonio marches westward along U.S He helped start a community investment fund The group formed after the town lost a favorite haunt Because it boasted the area’s only public pool Now the site is home to a Bill Miller Bar-B-Q In 2021 Kempf and the other founders of the Elsass held a meeting at the shuttered Dan’s Bar “We showed before-and-after slides of the Riviera,” he recalls ‘If you want more of this—if you want another historic building to become a CVS on our square someday—we do nothing Because that’s what we’re facing: outsiders with lots of money coming in and deciding for us what our town becomes Or we could all collectively decide what we want for Castroville and do something about it.’ ” the Elsass raised several million dollars in 48 hours poppy-lined corner park in the middle of downtown which is quickly becoming host to a hopping scene on weekends.  Blu Lacy and its next-door bakery, Baked, opened in late October. Day-trippers from San Antonio have been flocking to the barbecue joint, which offers a more traditional smoked-meat menu than the Tex-Mex-inspired 2M. And Baked, overseen by pastry chef Grecia Ramos the line to get French pastries and coffee starts on the sidewalk I go all in on a fat jalapeño cheddar kolache and a pain au chocolat shimmering in edible gold baking dust.  Ramos labors over trays of baked goods with her staff They average about five hundred croissants on weekend days she brings me her latest creation: the Supreme Croissant Lemon rosemary curd and whipped cream fill the circular treat The town’s changes since my last visit astonish me I join more than thirty locals for a Walkabout Castroville Code Tour one of the town’s many efforts to share ideas as the city works on a comprehensive plan in tandem with the Elsass from San Marcos–based Simplecity Design we’ve been dreaming big. . .  Now we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of how these dreams are turned into reality.” He leads us from the corner park to the two-story Hotel Tarde which opened in 1852.Frederick Law Olmsted who designed New York’s Central Park once declared it the best inn in the state “How delighted and astonished a traveler must have been,” he wrote I’m reminded of a video I watched at the Castro Colonies Living History Center in which an actor playing Henri Castro says “It is my destiny to secure the welfare of these families.” Castro’s past still feels very present in the town he helped build Hillside Inn: This hotel which features a pool and full-service spa is ideal for travelers looking for twenty-first-century amenities Hotel Tarde: Owners Pennie and Josh Robertson take great care of the historic property Landmark Inn: A stay at this five-acre site along the Medina River hints at what a stagecoach voyager from the mid–nineteenth century might have experienced when stopping for the night The rooms look out onto a tree-shaded lawn dotted with treasures such as the wash-house that charged travelers 25 cents for a bath.  Blu Lacy Smokehouse: The crispy brisket bark is the stuff of dreams are so tasty that noncarnivores will find something to love here too The Dough Station: This new pizza joint, in a revamped Exxon gas station on the side of U.S. 90, surpasses all small-town pizza expectations.Magnolia Filling Station: The cortados  and the camaraderie are strong at this community hub of a cafe Castro Colonies Living History Center: Pop into this carefully restored Alsatian pioneer home from 1850 for a fun bit of time travel Relive the pioneer days of Texas through interactive maps This article originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “The French Connection.” Subscribe today SAN ANTONIO - SAWS closed its Las Palmas Payment Center on Thursday after issues in the building The SAWS payment center at 803 Castroville Road will be closed for the day or visit the SAWS Eastside Payment Center at 403 South W.W Show Breaking News BarCloseLocal NewsSpencer Heath CASTROVILLE Texas – A manhunt ended Saturday night with the arrest of a suspect in Castroville according to the Medina County Sheriff’s Office Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said his agency assisted the San Antonio Police Department in capturing a suspect wanted for robbery in the San Antonio area and more law enforcement agencies helped additionally fled on State Highway 90 to Castroville before crashing his vehicle in a neighborhood and taking off on foot Officials set up a perimeter and searched the remote area Brown said Rodriguez was found hiding in a shed under some items Rodriguez was taken into custody without further incident Brown said Rodriguez was transported to Medina County Jail The City of Castroville will file charges against him SAPD will take over the rest of the investigation (KION-TV) - The Monterey County Sheriff's Office arrested two teens after they were reportedly driving recklessly and doing "burnouts" deputies were in the area of Ocean Mist Parkway in Castroville when they heard and later found a car driving at a high rate of speed and doing "donuts/burnouts" but the suspect's vehicle fled towards Blackie Road and then later towards Merritt Street The suspect reportedly continued to flee on highway 183 towards Salinas The chase ended at the intersection of Maple and Abbott Streets however the driver and suspect reportedly fled on food and were apprehended by deputies after a few minutes The 17-year-old driver was arrest and booked into juvenile hall on multiple charges including stolen vehicle and reckless driving The 18-year-old passenger has been identified by MCSO as Francisco Rodriguez and was booked into the Monterey County Jail for resisting arrest The owner of the stolen car involved was also contacted and was unaware his car was stolen (KION-TV) -- CHP Monterey confirmed Thursday morning that there was a deadly traffic incident on Nashua Road near Monte Road According to Monterey County Sheriff's Office the 23-year-old female victim has been identified as Maximina Solano-Sabino from Gilroy The CHP says that Solano-Sabino was crossing the road when she was struck by a Chevy Suburban headed westbound on Nashau Road heading towards Monte Road There were two people in the vehicle and DUI is not a factor The CHP says that the driver of the Chevy cooperated with authorities and pulled over immediately following the accident CHP says that the pedestrian was pronounced dead This is a developing story and investigation is still underway SAN ANTONIO - A former chief of the Castroville Police Department has been convicted of financial crimes former Castroville Police Chief Christopher Filline was convicted of wire fraud by a federal grand jury orchestrated a scheme to defraud Farmers Insurance Group by destroying a vehicle he had an insurance policy on The former chief then claimed the vehicle had been stolen having paid two accomplices to take the vehicle and light it on fire He then allegedly falsified a report with the Lytle Police Department and filed an insurance claim with Farmers Filline received $14,388.25 from the insurance company for the loss of the vehicle Filline was indicted for the fraud in January of 2020 He now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 He is set to be sentenced by a federal judge on Jan Hyperscaler continues to grow its presence in the city Microsoft plans to expand its presence in San Antonio with a new $482 million data center in the town of Castroville It has filed for a permit to build a single-story data center at 18844 Farm-to-Market Road in Castroville In the permit, first reported by CoStar News Microsoft said the data center will be known as SAT 82 and total 244,675 sq ft (22,730 sqm) in size Construction work could start in April 2026 with the project scheduled for completion in early 2028 Details of the capacity of the data center have not been shared Microsoft is already building two data centers at the same location. Known as SAT 80 and SAT 81, the development was announced in July 2023 with Microsoft stating it would cost some $230 million The data centers are due to come online in the third quarter of this year The company has been building out its presence in the San Antonio region over recent years and in March filed for permission to build a new data center at its campus at 3555 Westover Link in the city The 245,000 sq ft (22,760 sqm) data center is expected to cost $215 million It will sit on the same site as the SAT 15 data center, details of which were first announced in August 2022 This was due for completion in the first quarter of 2024 Microsoft is also developing a campus at 3545 Wiseman Blvd The company is planning up to five buildings on the site - known as SAT14 - with 350,000 sq ft (32,500 sqm) of space and a price tag of $200 million It also has a large campus at 15000 Lambda Drive, home to a 79,385 sq ft (7,375 sqm) data center, known as SAT46, with another in the works It owns 158 acres of land at the campus in the Texas Research Park where it plans to spend $1 billion building one million square feet of data center space Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia