Opinion

When the Watsonville City Council meets for the first time in 2018 Tuesday night, it will mark the beginning of another year of decisions that will shape the community far into the future. Here is what I hope to see the council achieve over the year.

The Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau (SCCFB) was honored with five County Activities of Excellence Awards, and was a finalist in the statewide Innovator Awards at the California Farm Bureau’s 104th meeting in early December. A local delegation of five attended the annual meeting in...

I didn’t know Feliciano Martinez Perea but his story is not foreign to me. It’s a story that many Watsonville residents know. It’s the immigrant’s story. Martinez Perea hailed from the small town of San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, Mexico. He came to Watsonville to...

I spent 50 years of my professional career working at Watsonville Community Hospital. Over those five decades I was fortunate enough to have performed well enough to rise through the ranks and become manager of the Radiology Department for several years.  As a manager I...

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...

Just 13 days ago Santa Cruz County officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 within our tight-knit community. Since that fateful Saturday morning press conference, the Pajaronian news team has not had much time to take a moment to reflect and truly process...

Sheriff Oversight Commission needed On behalf of Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Santa Cruz County, we submit this letter to draw your attention to urgent needs in our community that have been ignored for too long. We trust you agree that each of us...

Bus-Trail is the best option Bus-Trail allows the present unused Santa Cruz County Corridor to be totally Trail-Only, totally Bus-Only or anything in-between at any time.  Those who liked the recent TIG “wannabe bus” demonstration when it was standing still or ramping up to the full...

Since 2009, Blume Industries (BI) and Whiskey Hill Farms (WHF) have jointly operated a research and development incubator in Watsonville, aiming to find regenerative solutions for food, fuel and waste management. And now they will have the opportunity to expand their reach, sharing what they...

For seven years in the 1970s I taught elementary school at Hall District School in Las Lomas. My students were virtually identical to those massacred in Uvalde, Texas. Apparently, “my” children watched for almost an hour while their teachers and friends were being blown...