Opinion

All around the world this weekend, Christians are celebrating Good Friday and Easter.  Good Friday is sorrow remembered. Easter is joy experienced.  Several years ago while travelling through Israel I had a chance to go inside a first-century tomb that had been discovered when road crews...

Compiled by Steve Bankhead 25 years ago on April 23, 1996 Moreland Notre Dame sixth-grader Anoosh Moutafian won her division in the Santa Cruz County Science Fair competition at Cabrillo College. Her project centered on properties of the lowly daphnia, tiny water crustaceans that thrive in...

Abundant thanks to the Watsonville City Council, especially Mayor Garcia and members Gonzalez and Estrada, for their support of public posting of Notices of Intent (NOIs) to use restricted pesticides. We appreciate County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo for his ongoing willingness to communicate, and...

By Greg Caput, County Supervisor It is no surprise to most of us that this has been an unprecedented year with the emergence of Covid-19 and the CZU fires. During these times of uncertainty, we are facing deep emotional distress. The residents of Santa Cruz...

The COVID-19 crisis has without a doubt been a challenging ordeal. Our businesses are suffering, our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet and there do not seem to be many quick solutions to the problems created by this tricky, highly-infectious virus. Yet, the...

Politics is keeping Watsonville stuck I was quite bemused when I read that the Watsonville Planning Commission denied issuing a use permit to the developers of the drive-thru establishments on N. Main Street because of air pollution from idling cars! This is such shortsighted thinking!  Sure,...

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.

Compiled by Steve Bankhead 25 years ago on Jan. 9, 1996 The city Planning Commission voted 5-2 for approval of the Overlook Shopping Center north of Ramsay Park. It will bring a Target store, Staples, and a major supermarket. Shirley Pyle, owner of the Crestview Shopping...

There were several good news items scattered throughout the most recent budget update presented to the Watsonville City Council on Feb. 9. The city’s Administrative Services Director, Cindy Czerwin, predicted that the city would end the 2020-21 fiscal year about $5 million better than...

MEMO FROM REV. MATHEWS-JOHNSON It’s that time of year again. Christmas brings up wonderful memories for me. Maybe some of you can relate. But this year it just “ain’t like it used to be” on a lot of levels. Somehow, in some way, I believe we’ve...