Greg Becker, June 15: A rail travelogue and commentary
I have ridden the train from Watsonville to Santa Cruz.
Nonprofits, community groups celebrate farmworkers as lawmakers call for more support
WATSONVILLE—After working a long shift picking strawberries and greens, dozens of farmworkers and their families received the royal treatment thanks to a new program from El Pájaro Community Development Corporation.
Called the Farmworker’s Family Dinner, the initiative treated 38 families—roughly 230 people—to meals from El...
Movie Review: Bay, stop making 'Transformers' movies
The plot? Well, it’s there. Does it make sense? No. Do the filmmakers care? It doesn’t feel like it. The exposition is excessive and most of the time it just complicates what could have been a simple action romp through the past.
Maria T. Cadenas: Including undocumented families in safety nets is the only way forward
Thousands of Monterey and Santa Cruz County families were forced to evacuate March 11 after the Pajaro and Soledad rivers flooded this rural agricultural area. The storms arrived at the beginning of the growing season, just as farmworkers were going back to work and...
Watsonville City Council approves changes to some cannabis rules
After a contentious meeting on Tuesday, a divided Watsonville City Council approved in concept several amendments to its retail cannabis ordinances, a move intended to ease the regulatory burden for a burgeoning industry already beleaguered by local, state and federal regulations.
City officials say the...
Taking pride in our fairgrounds
The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is a hidden gem that needs to be protected. It has been said that fairgrounds date back to Greek times where they were created to offer a place for people to buy and sell goods. Over the years fairgrounds...
Farm history gets new life
WATSONVILLE—Heavy-duty earth-moving equipment rumbled into gear at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds over the past week, reshaping a chunk of land at the Agricultural History Project to make way for the expansion of the Living History Farm.
Situated near the entrance of the fairgrounds, the...
Expanding services to South County
One of the most significant actions the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took during our recent budget cycle was to authorize the purchase of a new South County Service Center. This purchase will create a second County government building that would provide Mid-...
Pat Fohrman, April 7: A private initiative to solve a very public problem
At the March 13 meeting of the Watsonville City Council, prominent business people, Sherry Dang and Kirk DiCicco, outlined for the City Council a project that they have been engaged in over the past eight years, helping one homeless person at a time find stability and a way back to self-reliance and self-respect by providing jobs, positive reinforcement and training.
Acosta must resign
By Elaine Legorreta
This is a call for the resignation of Georgia Acosta from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees. One of several deficits is her disregard of the law and district by-laws. Trustee Acosta demonstrated either a disrespect or ignorance of...
Affordable housing project back on track
Construction is set to resume on Haven Plaza, a 35-unit permanent supportive housing community at 2838 Park Ave. in Soquel after developers secured critical...
















