Opinion

Zach Friend is effective, responsive I’ve worked with many elected officials over the last 30 years and I can easily say Zach Friend is one of the best. As a constituent, I’ve found that Zach and his staff are responsive as well as effective when...

Our state and local housing crisis can be measured in many ways: From the more than $70,000 one has to earn to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment locally to our state’s 78,000 unsheltered homeless (nearly half of the nation’s total), to county med

Letters to the Editor, March 3, 2018

It was 1995 the last time the Pajaro River flooded this badly. Local clergy responded, organizing charitable efforts to help those affected. But when we showed up to meetings where key decisions would be made, we were dismissed and sent back to our places...

Not long ago, our community came together around a powerful shared belief: that everyone deserves access to healthcare.  That belief fueled the effort to save Watsonville Community Hospital and bring it under local control—a major victory.  But like many hospitals across the country, we continue to...

Letters to the Editor, Jan. 9, 2018

Editor's note: This column was submitted in December and should have run earlier in January. As we enter the new year, I’m reflecting on our achievements in 2024—progress made possible through collaboration with community members, colleagues, county staff, and you. Together, we’ve worked to ensure Santa...

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...