Letters to the Editor

PVUSD cuts necessary The Pajaro Valley Unified School District is finally being forced to face financial reality. Many of the positions now being eliminated were funded by one-time Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which expired in February 2024. That temporary COVID money...

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...

Data center installations need tight standards There are issues coming up with many of the data center installations: they need power and cooling with water. Some of these data systems are planned where there is little water and should be required to move to regions...

Response to "The Tragic Loss of Charlie Kirk" (Sept. 12-18) While I agree that this senseless act of violence was both tragic and unacceptable, there seems to be some confusion about the character of Charlie Kirk.  Kirk was a racist and often attacked the transgender...

To my Republican Friends Despite our different political opinions, I think we can all agree that we want a better future for our children. The president you elected twice, and the representatives and senators in Congress that you elected who continue to support President Trump, have...

Organophosphates Endanger Our Children’s Future 25 years ago, when Dr. Brenda Eskenazi and her UC Berkeley team at the School of Public Health began taking blood and urine samples of pregnant women and young children in the Salinas Valley, they figured that anyone living within...

Medina ‘not shrinking back’ after Lelieur letter Mr. Lelieur’s letter (Nov. 21-28, p. 8) tries to present a clear picture of the PVUSD Nov. 12 board meeting, but anyone who was present or watched the recording knows his version doesn’t match reality. The board president...

800 Births. What Happens When Your Hospital Is Full? If you plan to give birth in Santa Cruz, Salinas, Monterey, or another Central Coast community, the future of Watsonville Community Hospital belongs in your birth plan.Watsonville serves roughly 800 births each year. If labor and...

Pesticide use in the Santa Cruz county  Pesticides are not only harming farmworkers but also us. Pesticide use is a huge problem that is especially affecting us since we are surrounded by agriculture. It is very important to find new ways to control invasive pests,...

Kudos for two columns The first (Aug. 21-27) by Theo Wierdsma, entitled “Climate Change Turns Deadly” summarized the existential (and inevitable) threats to our children's future posed by Climate Change, and questioned the inaction of our current federal government. The second (Aug. 28-Sept. 3) was by...