Mayor’s Update: Stay prepared
As we entered the second week of March, we once again prepared for storms and another atmospheric river event that was expected to bring heavy rains and flooding. The City is working tirelessly with many partners to prepare and be ready to assist our...
Supervisor’s Update: Stronger together
The start of the New Year greeted all of us with more water than any of us, including meteorologists, had anticipated. And again, this past week our neighbors in Pajaro were devastatingly flooded. Although Pajaro isn’t technically a part of Watsonville or Santa Cruz...
Letter: Upgrade levee with concrete linings
It is to my dismay upon reading that yet another breach in the Pajaro River Levee has occurred. This has happened numerous times through the years resulting in floods that have inundated the area. The repairs amounted to nothing more than a band-aid.
Following the...
Letter: Thank you for Porter history
I'm not a regular reader of the Pajaronian, but I am so glad to have caught the article “The Porter Family Legacy” (Pajaronian, March 10-16) and learn of the family’s link to the Chinese community in Watsonville. My father Henry G. Wong leased the...
Sandy Lydon: The Porter family legacy
The myth about how Watsonville’s original Chinatown (1870-1888) moved from the corner of Maple and Union to a new site across the river in Monterey County began even before the move was completed in September 1888.
The story of the delicate negotiations and the Chinese...
Guest View: Salinas Valley sets the standard on farmworker housing
The tragic deaths of seven farmworkers in Half Moon Bay in January revealed an ugly, persistent truth: there are parts of our state where our essential, agricultural workers still live in deplorable conditions. There are no permits, no inspections and conditions are substandard. But...
Guest View: Fairgrounds future looks fraught
As a news reporter, I attended Santa Cruz County Fair Board of Directors meetings for years, sometimes covering scandalous fair managers and scarce finances. What I saw recently at the Feb. 28 fair board meeting was disturbing on a level I’d never before have...
Letter: RTC misses the mark on Highway 1
You can take an express bus from Watsonville to Santa Cruz without traveling a whole lot longer than it takes by car—so long as you travel after the morning peak commute hours. If you hop on a 91X bus at Main Street and Green...
Mayor’s Update: Watsonville’s resilience
The start of 2023 was far from what anyone expected it to be. Our region was battered by an unprecedented atmospheric river that brought heavy rains, flooding and evacuations for our residents.
While this was unexpected and severely impacted thousands in our community, I was...
Letter: PVUSD Board wise to appoint member
The PVUSD Board of Trustees was wise to move to make an appointment to fill the vacant Area 6 seat on the Board. Special elections often have terrible turnout and in this case would be a waste of $80,000.
As a parent of PVUSD students,...
St. Francis, Watsonville to meet for PCAL season opener | High...
St. Francis is hosting Watsonville this weekend for the anticipated start of Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division-North play.
The crosstown rivals will square off...