Parks and recreation update
By Rebecca J. Garcia, Watsonville Mayor
All my grandchildren learned to swim through the Watsonville summer aquatics program. They went underwater, they floated, they played and they swam. So much fun. However, there will be no summer aquatics program this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic....
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, April 23
Compiled by Steve Bankhead
25 years ago on April 23, 1996
Moreland Notre Dame sixth-grader Anoosh Moutafian won her division in the Santa Cruz County Science Fair competition at Cabrillo College. Her project centered on properties of the lowly daphnia, tiny water crustaceans that thrive in...
Theo Wierdsma column: Counting the votes
Joseph Stalin famously remarked that in an election, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
While stakeholders in our democratic system insist that our votes count, in reality, given our electoral system, which consistently features two major political parties, in...
Guest view: Cries of racism are misguided
By Geraldine Ridgway
Watsonville has long been a racially diverse community. It is insulting for anyone to call any Watsonville resident a racist.
Watsonville has an amazing history. We once had a huge whaling industry, sardine factories stretched from Watsonville to Monterey, employing all races and...
Awakening for a better world
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
—Jesus
When...
Letters to the Editor, Nov. 8
Here’s my concern folks
Forty percent of our fellow citizens:
believe lying is OK (over 13,000 and counting)
2. believe one needn’t pay one’s bills (contractors and city police that protect presidential rallies)
3. believe stealing from the government is OK (emoluments clause)
4. believe that UC No. 1 (unindicted co-conspirator #1)...
Movie Review: 'Lady Bird' is a real, funny, moving coming-of-age story
“Lady Bird” is a story about people, about finding one’s self and about being comfortable in one’s skin. There are no real villains, there’s hardly any fluff and there are no end-of-the-world stakes here — even if the titular character feels as if everything happening to her might as well mark the end of times. This film is real. It doesn’t pander to its audience and it takes its time to build up its characters, which carry it from start to credits.
On my mind, Aug. 26: Three big losses
It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of three important friends, who I believe played a huge role in shaping the fabric of Watsonville: Jim Rector, master home builder, Peggy Avalos, site manager at the Watsonville Senior Center through Community Bridges, and Lorraine Stucki, community activist and former Couch Distributing worker.
Photo story: Early morning crash causes power outage
Police and first responders responded to a crash on the 100 block of Airport Boulevard at 7:55am Sunday that toppled a power pole and...





















