Sandy Lydon: How Jack London continues to build fires
These chilly nights have kick-started my personal fire-building season. Wood fires are the only source of heat in our home, so a fire in a woodstove is now a daily necessity.
I first learned how to build a fire from my paternal grandmother who lived...
Harvesting a home
The Meyer Farm Worker Housing held its grand opening on April 20, and in the coming weeks will house 216 workers in the space on north First Street and Broadway.
Farm, biotech company secures more grants for education programs
In 2021, biotech company Blume Industries (BI) and Whiskey Hill Farms (WHF) became recipients of The Farmer Rancher Grant, a major grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Western Division of Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
The grant aims to support farmers and...
Beyond Division: Restoring Focus on Students and Progress—a letter from PVFT
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Todd Guild as the author.
For the past 19 months, the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers (PVFT) has proudly observed our students, teachers, and community members courageously fighting for an ethnic studies program that...
Movie Review: 'A Cure for Wellness' not quite a comeback for Verbinski
“A Cure for Wellness” is not quite what I expected or would have wished for from Verbinski, but it challenged me enough that I can say I’m excited for him to do something similar but not as convoluted or heavy.
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...
Appreciating the bounty of our agriculture community
One of the healthiest food banks in the country. That’s the claim Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County makes because of the amazing generosity of our local agriculture community, the farmers, packers and farmworkers of the Pajaro Valley and beyond.
Second Harvest receives more...
Agriculture Tech degree launches at Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College has announced the launch of a new Associate of Science degree in Sustainable Agriculture Technology.
A call to end homelessness
Nearly 300 people marched the streets of downtown Santa Cruz May 18 to help end homelessness.
The second-annual gathering, organized by Housing Matters, reigned in a coalition of local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public supporters in the March to End Homelessness.
The event began outside Santa...
New leadership, shared priorities: Investing in the future of public safety
As we begin a new year, I want to reflect on the direction of public safety in Watsonville and the leadership helping guide that...



















