Letters to the Editor

Lawmakers must restore Workforce Quality Incentive Program I started my career in a skilled nursing facility twenty years ago as a certified nursing assistant. Over time, I worked in admissions, earned my nursing license, became a nurse at the same facility my grandmother was a...

Medina should have notified about recording Several months ago PVUSD trustee Gabriel Medina wrote on his social media page that he had recorded a telephone conversation with school superintendent Heather Contreras and that she rudely hung up on him. She denied doing so, and I...

Regarding benefit caps The local teacher’s union, PVFT, has been loudly crying during negotiations with the school district, PVUSD, to not put a cap on their benefits. It is a great slogan but flies in the face of reality. From 2010 to today, benefits have...

The history behind the photo I thought it might be helpful for your readers to have some background on one of the pictures included in my friend Tarmo Hannula's article in the Feb. 27-March 5, 2026 issue of the Pajaronian ("Short drive, big rewards in...

Democrats disrespectful during State of the Union I condemn the Democratic members of Congress for refusing to stand and applaud victims of preventable tragedies during the SOTU address. Their inaction reveals misplaced priorities and a lack of empathy for shattered lives.  Take the 5-year-old girl who...

At the Feb. 11 PVUSD Board meeting, trustee Gabe Medina was banned from the PV High campus for 14 days. It was a great example of deflecting the charges to blaming others for not doing enough, a practice that trustee Medina has done for...

Passenger rail price estimates too high One can never convince  me that restoring the Santa Cruz Branch rail line for passenger rail would cost an estimated $4.2 billion dollars!  I am not a transportation planner or consultant however it is obvious something doesn't jive and...

Addressing boisterous, long PVUSD meetings What occurred at the PVUSD board meeting last month should never have happened.  Trustee Joy Flynn’s response to a shout from the crowd about “blood on your hands” posed no threat, and was likely a reference to a belief that...

PVUSD board was right to make cuts when they did Brandon Diniz has written an impassioned guest Sentinel editorial; but he left out details on why the expediency, the reason for the cutbacks, and the continual disruption. The District is required to submit their proposed budget...

Praise for Watsonville Fire Chief Lopez In 1996, I took my New School students to the Watsonville Fire Department on Second Street for an educational tour.  There I met fireman Rudy Lopez, who took an interest in my "second chance" high school students.  I met...