58.1 F
Watsonville
March 26, 2026

From the editor's desk: Step forward and report crimes

I am relieved to say that we finally got through a Monday without reports of child abuse popping up from somewhere in Santa Cruz County.

Luis Alejo, March 20: The voting rights gladiator who changed California politics forever

California’s Latino community has lost its greatest voting rights gladiator. Last Friday, the legendary civil rights lawyer Joaquin G. Avila lost his battle to cancer after previously suffering from a stroke. No one was more accomplished than him when it came to fighting for Latino political empowerment and representation.

Cultural Shift

Jay Shinseki Watsonville
MEMO FROM REV. SHINSEKI “There are causes for all human suffering, and  there is a way by which they may be ended, because everything in the world is the result of a vast concurrence of causes and conditions, and  everything disappears as these causes and...

The choice is simple, rebuild the WHS bleachers

Nearly seven years ago I posted a video to social media that, sadly, is no longer viewable. It was a 20-second clip recorded underneath the Watsonville High School press box at Emmett M. Geiser Field. In the video, I ever so slightly nudged a...

Pajaronian Editorial: Yes on Measure N

watsonville community hospital
The Pajaronian has traditionally avoided endorsing candidates and most other issues during election cycles. Our reasoning is simple: a news outlet’s job, we believe, is to provide as much information as possible from all sides of issues and to let our readers make their...

Religion: Accept the adjustments in life

Jay Shinseki Watsonville
One of the basic teachings of the Buddha is the truth of change. This is an undeniable reality that we are all aware of. However, we resist change and cling to the illusion that we are always in control of our lives. When life...

Movie Review: 'Baby Driver' hits the right notes

Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” is a stylized, musical romp through the action film genre that not only banks on the visual flair of whimsical and intense car chases but a standout cast of characters. The narrative is tight, the action, for the most part, do

Movie Review: 'The Last Jedi' feels bloated, empty at same time

Truth is, “The Last Jedi” feels more like a filler television episode than the grand galactic opera the series is known for. There is no doubt that this film is beautiful and it definitely has the whimsical DNA that has kept the franchise trucking forward for 40 years. But the eighth installment in this storyline feels a bit empty, has some weird tonal problems and sticks around longer than it should.

On My Mind, Jan. 2: Hansen Feed owner passes on

I am deeply saddened to learn that my friend Richie Hansen, owner of Hansen Feed and Pet Supply on Freedom Boulevard, has passed on. He was only 65.

Traditional international alignments are shifting

The initial response to the disastrous Oval Office encounter between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump and his vice president was that the resulting confrontation became a horrendously shameful moment for our country.  The sentiment expressed by many was that the objective...
7,695FansLike
4,949FollowersFollow
2,895FollowersFollow

Deputies: Man drove stolen car to face charges for stealing a...

A man was arrested Tuesday for driving a stolen car to the Monterey County Superior Courthouse in Salinas, where he was scheduled to appear...