Opinion

Editor's note: This column was submitted in December and should have run earlier in January. As we enter the new year, I’m reflecting on our achievements in 2024—progress made possible through collaboration with community members, colleagues, county staff, and you. Together, we’ve worked to ensure Santa...

Letters to the Editor, Sept. 9, 2017

We stand with LGBTQ+ people We are a group of LGBTQ+ and allies in fifth through eighth grade at Watsonville Charter School of the Arts, and are members of our Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs. We were very upset to learn about the hate crime...

By Denise Elerick, of the Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz County Substance use disorder is now widely recognized in the medical community as a chronic illness which responds to treatment. Similar to other chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, remission and recurrence...

One of my best friends is a university professor of chemistry. Last Saturday, he took his youngest down to Walgreens to receive her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination. Never one to miss the opportunity to pick a scientist’s brain, I asked how he...

After the 2023 flood, $434 million was given by the state and government under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund a new levee. The 100-year floodplain levee would sustain the Pajaro River, Salsipuedes Creek and Corralitos Creek with the idea that there is 1%...

Immigration reform bill needed in the Build Back Better bill We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make life better for America’s families and boost our economy. Whether you have small kids or elderly family members, the positive impact of the Build Back Better Act will...

Navigator Schools, which runs Watsonville Prep on the grounds of E.A. Hall Middle School—and will soon expand to Ann Soldo Elementary School—should find its own space as soon as possible. In the meantime, the organization should immediately pay back the hundreds of thousands of...

On Aug. 24, four of five Santa Cruz County Supervisors, except Greg Caput, from Pajaro Valley’s District 4, rejected the County Civil Grand Jury’s recommendation that they support an online pilot program to provide the public with advance notice of hazardous pesticides being applied...

Ranked 11th by last year’s U.S. food and wine festival calendar critics, the 2017 Paso Robles Wine Festival is scheduled for May 18-21 and will feature four days of dinners, tastings and educational seminars fit for both experienced and inexperienced pala