Theo Wierdsma column: Counting the votes
Joseph Stalin famously remarked that in an election, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
While stakeholders in our democratic system insist that our votes count, in reality, given our electoral system, which consistently features two major political parties, in...
National Agriculture Day scholarship, contest winners announced
WATSONVILLE—For years the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau (SCCFB) and the Agri-Culture organization have hosted the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon. However, due to the current COVID- 19 pandemic, the March 18 event was postponed, and its future remains uncertain.
Despite this, the two groups...
Kirk Schmidt: Fire in the Sky a spectacular time
Fourth of July fireworks are, by definition, spectacular. Spectacular is what 9,000 (est.) people, who came to the Watsonville Municipal Airport, and many more in surrounding neighborhoods, said on Tuesday night, a fabulous pyrotechnic display to celebrat
Letter: No more outsiders for hospital
I would strongly recommend that the Watsonville City Council make their opinion known that the Council views the control of the operation and planning for the Community Hospital to be in the hands of a person that has been with the hospital and community...
Australia, a country on fire | On My Mind
Major bush fires continue to burn in Australia garnering worldwide concern. Thus far 24 fatalities have been reported, including three volunteer firefighters, and experts are assuming that entire species of animals and plant life will be wiped out by the fires, according to various...
Food for power
Three years ago, 18-year-old Cesar Mendoza walked into the El Pajaro CDC Kitchen Incubator with a group of his peers. They were there for a workshop to make vitamin water and to learn how the kitchen ran.
Letter: What can be done to prevent more flooding?
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%...
Congressman Panetta announces farmworker aid
ROYAL OAKS—Congressman Jimmy Panetta was on the Central Coast Thursday, touting two pandemic assistance programs he helped pass that will benefit agriculture workers and the industries that employ them.
The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program will provide $650 million in grants to food...
A sense of worthiness
Worthiness. Where does it come from? Self-esteem, feeling valuable … beliefs we acquire, not qualities that are doled out to us before we’re born. Every child comes into the world ready to be loved and cared for. And then we arrive at a conclusion about o
Watsonville nurses rally against ICU closure
Several dozen Watsonville Community Hospital nurses and staff warned Wednesday that closing the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit—an idea they said officials have floated amid...




















