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Watsonville
July 5, 2025

Only in Watsonville

The Japanese love cherry blossoms both for their beauty and as harbingers of spring, but also because their short life reminds us of the transience of life. Sweet but sad.  In the 1920s the Pajaro Valley Japanese community donated and planted hundreds of cherry blossom trees...

Letters to the Editor, May 6

letter to the editor pajaronian
Responding to levee assessment concerns In response to Sandra Haven’s letter about things people should consider prior to voting on the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency’s proposed assessment for levee maintenance, I’d like to add the following considerations: The proposed assessment is for current and ongoing...

Letters to the Editor, April 29

letter to the editor pajaronian
Reasons to vote against the levee assessment Everyone seems to agree that the Salsipuedes and Pajaro levees need repair. The public relations information from the new Pajaro Flood Agency isn’t emphasizing some issues that deserve to be considered before you vote—and there are about 3,000...

Levee reconstruction project needs your support

Pajaro River levee
Both my great-grandfathers immigrated to Watsonville in the 1850s. Not long after they first arrived, they were introduced to one of our region’s greatest threats to lives and livelihoods: flooding from the Pajaro River and its tributaries. Soon after arriving, my great-grandfather Stephano Martinelli,...

Risen life: Dying and rising before you die

Rev. John Song
Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed! Every year on Easter Sunday, Christians begin the service with this proclamation. Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ who on the third day rose from the dead.  When I was attending seminary, the New Testament professor was teaching the...

Farm, biotech company secures more grants for education programs

In 2021, biotech company Blume Industries (BI) and Whiskey Hill Farms (WHF) became recipients of The Farmer Rancher Grant, a major grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Western Division of Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). The grant aims to support farmers and...

Support the Pajaro River levee assessment

pajaro levee
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...

Why I support renewing Watsonville’s Measure U

Felipe Hernandez
As a longtime elected official representing the people of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley, I know how essential and important the agricultural industry is to the region and the rest of Santa Cruz County. In two elections, the voters of Watsonville have overwhelmingly affirmed...

Hanamatsuri–The Flower Festival

Jay Shinseki Watsonville
This month Buddhist throughout the world are celebrating the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha with the celebration called Hanamatsuri the Flower Festival. The name comes from the legend of Shakyamuni’s birth in Lumbini’s Garden and the many flowers that were in bloom that day in...

Letters to the Editor, April 15

letter to the editor pajaronian
Vote no on D We need to look at all the benefits of preserving and restoring the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, and not be swayed and misled by the anti-rail groups regarding Measure D. The train, whether it be a light rail vehicle, electric tram...
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Santa Cruz County celebrates with parades

Thousands of people attended Fourth of July parades in Watsonville and Aptos Friday, lining sidewalks aliog main streets to see hundreds of participants. Below...