Opinion

CALIFORNIA—Crediting a unified effort by California farmers, ranchers and their organizations, California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson thanked voters for rejecting the split-roll tax measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. The initiative, Proposition 15, would have allowed reassessment and higher property taxes on a...

Possible delays for Freedom project are concerning I am concerned after reading the March 17 article about the upcoming pipework that the City of Watsonville plans to conduct on Freedom Boulevard. The plan has already been delayed due to supply shortage, what happens if there...

Ann López’s humanitarian journey began through her own education.

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...

Far more than just a pretty face, lavender — with its tiny purple blooms and distinctive perfume — has become one of the most popular plants all across the county. To celebrate its many purposes, the Central Coast Lavender Growers Association and Paso Rob

What sort of news would make you celebrate wildly? A clean bill of health? Escaping financial worries? Newfound safety? The true end of the pandemic? How might you respond? Would you run? Would you dance? Would you sing? Would you write a new song...

On Aug. 24, four of five Santa Cruz County Supervisors, except Greg Caput, from Pajaro Valley’s District 4, rejected the County Civil Grand Jury’s recommendation that they support an online pilot program to provide the public with advance notice of hazardous pesticides being applied...

Daniel Craig recently signed on to return as James Bond for the 25th installment of the iconic film franchise. I love Craig as Bond — he’s without a doubt my favorite Bond — but after watching him in “Logan Lucky” that news has me a bit sad. Craig absolutely crushes it as the aptly named Joe Bang in director Steven Soderbergh’s return to the heist film genre and his performance has me itching to see him continue to branch out in different roles. I definitely want him to leave the Bond franchise on a good note — and we all know that “Spectre” was far from good — but I’d much rather see the 49-year-old chase interesting and wacky roles like Joe Bang the rest of his career.

Hats off to the multitude of volunteers that have pulled off the Holiday Lights display at our Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. My understanding is that with the state’s intervention in the leadership at the fairgrounds, staff hours were cut from 48 hours to just...