Levee reconstruction project needs your support
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,...
A keeper of history | On My Mind
My good friend Marvin Byers has left this world. His unexpected passing, on Dec. 17, is a day now stamped into my memory. It is a day, that, if I were a city official, would be spelled out in brass and marble in the...
California FarmLink receives $500K from Wells Fargo
APTOS—Wells Fargo has announced a boost to diverse small businesses with $1.7 million in grants from its Diverse Community Capital program, which offers capital and technical assistance to minority-owned small businesses through Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).
“Diverse small businesses face unique challenges to start...
Fight the polarization
Memo from Pastor Rene
As I write this, the outcome of the presidential election is still unclear. Or should I say, the winner is unclear. What’s very clear is how deeply polarized our nation has become. The red went blood-red, the blue ice-blue, and the...
New habits
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic entered our lives we have had to change the way we do things quite a bit. We are careful about who we encounter, we wear our masks, we practice social distancing, we wash our hands more often, and we...
From the editor's desk, Sept. 5: Record-breaking weather
As the calendar turned to September, our seemingly extended spring weather finally gave into summer. And it was a record-breaker.
Lives lost
May all beings find comfort and peace of mind in the midst of tragedy and loss. We send forth loving thoughts to those in sorrow and pain. We share in the tragedy of loss. We have all experienced loss, tragedy and separation. When we...
Noah and the Climate Crisis
Once when I was a youth pastor, a sixth-grade boy came up to me and asked, “Robby, where’s the rules part in the Bible?” Not sure exactly what he meant, I asked if he was looking for the Ten Commandments. “No, the rules part!”...
Man arrested for agriculture-related crimes
A Prunedale man was arrested Nov. 26 on suspicion of a lengthy list of agriculture-related crimes including theft of a tractor.
On Oct. 22, deputies...

















