Opinion

MEMO FROM REV. SHINSEKI “A human being, his material possessions, and his surroundings are merely shadows of his mind. However, this Truth cannot be understood by an ignorant person who thinks the thought that things exist everlastingly or that things become completely extinct. These two...

The month of July and August is what Buddhists call Obon season. For many, the Obon is a Buddhist festival of food, cultural arts, displays and folk dancing. The religious aspect of Obon comes from the sutra called the Ullambana Sutra. The sutra is...

My fellow property owners in portions of Watsonville, Pajaro and surrounding agricultural areas are being offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end our region’s long, heartbreaking history of catastrophic flooding. We would be crazy to turn it down. Our area has suffered eight floods in the...

One of my favorite passages in the Christian scriptures comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. Perhaps surprisingly, the reason I love it so much is how not-religious it is.  The passage sets up a contrast between disparate ways we can choose to...

Letters to the Editor, Dec. 7, 2017

Over 2,500 years ago Siddartha Gautama attained Enlightenment at the age of 35 as he sat meditating under the Bodhi Tree. The term Bodhi means Enlightenment and since that time each Dec. 8, Buddhists throughout the world express their gratitude to the Buddha for...

Compiled by Steve Bankhead 25 years ago on Feb. 6, 1996 Some workers from the closing Norcal-Crosetti plant at Ford & Walker streets will be hired by Dean Foods (former Richard Shaw Frozen Foods) which purchased Norcal Crosetti when it failed last August.  Dean Foods plans...

Under no circumstances should the Watsonville Municipal Airport be the sacrificial lamb for low income housing or other types of development!   Watsonville Mayor Eduardo Montesino states: “A playground for rich people to have an airplane.” Not only is this a reckless, erroneous comment, it also...

Since my last message our clocks have sprung forward and Spring is here. As we move past the storms of the past several months, much-awaited federal help for our neighbors in Pajaro has arrived.  The President approved a major disaster declaration for Santa Cruz and...