Thanksgiving 2020: The commonplace, remarkable & lunatics
Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson
I’ve read that Mark Twain once categorized people into three groups: commonplace, remarkable and lunatics. I don’t know about you, but I can think of people who belong in all three groups.
Of course, that’s a put-down, so three compliments are in...
Changing course
We are all lifelong learners committed to growing and understanding more about our world. Humanity’s great strength is in its ability to adapt. A little over a year ago, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees decided to end our contracts with...
A Year of Service, Growth, and Civic Health in Watsonville
On Dec. 9, I had the profound honor of being sworn in as Mayor of Watsonville.
Standing before community leaders, public servants, and neighbors that evening, I felt a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility.
Watsonville is a city defined by service, resilience, and possibility, and...
From the editor's desk: City making strides with crime rate
City leaders have every right to be proud of Watsonville’s dropping crime rate, capped off by no homicides in 2016.
Progress on the Pajaro River
Every year we have concerns about the Pajaro River and the stability of the levee system. The Pajaro River levee has one of the lowest levels of flood protection of any federally funded project in the United States and has been providing inadequate protection...
Letters to the Editor, Dec. 14, 2023
Flood risk remains high
Regarding the article “County issues ‘plea’ for Pajaro levee repairs” in the Pajaronian on Dec. 8, I paid my attention to two points:
1. “But the two other sites in need of emergency repairs have yet to be completed, the letter noted....
Letter to the Editor, Oct. 7: Tragic incident needs full investigation
Letter to the Editor, Oct. 7, 2017
Kangi-e ‘A Gathering of Joy’
The month of July and August is what Buddhists call Obon season. For many, the Obon is a Buddhist festival of food, cultural arts, displays and folk dancing. The religious aspect of Obon comes from the sutra called the Ullambana Sutra. The sutra is...
Woody Rehanek: Science proves pesticide’s destructive nature
For the last 18 years, I taught a special education class in the Pajaro Valley. Many of my students were farmworker children with learning disabilities: problems paying attention, reading difficulties, hyperactivity, autism, lower IQ and struggles with self-control. I was shocked to discover that one of the most widely used pesticides in the world — chlorpyrifos — has, after over 20 years of solid research at UC Davis, Berkeley, Columbia University and elsewhere, been linked to these difficulties in learning and behavior.




















