County to mull ban on filtered cigarettes
In the decade between 2013-23, volunteers and nonprofits picked up 439,358 cigarette butts from Santa Cruz County’s beaches and natural areas, accounting for a quarter of all litter found here.
That’s according to Save Our Shores (SOS), a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit that works to support...
Life’s doors
Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson:
Doors. We use them every day. We open them. We close them. We lock them. We knock on them. We stand outside them. We stand inside them. They lock us in. They lock us out. They keep us safe. They keep...
Inspiring actions around the world
Inspiring actions around the world
It is so inspiring the way millions of great Americans and millions of good people in grand nations around the world have complied with each nation’s coronavirus guidelines for protecting themselves and, in turn, protecting the health of many others...
Are we in the midst of a cultural revolution?
Since the 1960s, the U.S. has become a more inclusive country.
This necessarily meant that white men lost some part of their privileged positions in education, employment and entertainment. By the 2000s, in the wake of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, anti-racism books were on...
Guest View: State keeps expanding school curricula while key subjects need improvement
Recently, the attorney general’s office completed paperwork for an initiative that, if qualified for the 2024 ballot and approved by voters, would require California’s nearly 6 million public school students to take a course in personal finance.
The proposal, by an organization called Californians for...
The importance of the youth vote in 2020 | Letters to the Editor
The importance of the youth vote in 2020
Attention young people: Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964) and Millenials (ages 18-35) both represent nearly one-third of the potential voting populace apiece. In 2016, people 65 years and older voted at a 71 percent rate. Millennials voted...
From the editor's desk, July 11: A booming success for the airport
I figured I would show up an hour or so after the gates opened at the Watsonville Municipal Airport for the first-ever Fire in the Sky open house last week. Turns out, I almost missed my chance to park, and perhaps, miss the show entirely.
Santa Cruz’s Charlie Hong Kong serves lunch to local farmworkers
WATSONVILLE—About two dozen farmworkers settled in on picnic tables at a Lakeside Organic Gardens field Wednesday for a fresh, healthy lunch featuring the very crops they harvest.
The meal was prepared by Charlie Hong Kong, a Santa Cruz Asian fusion restaurant that was Lakeside’s first...
Strong schools, strong communities
A question we often hear from constituents is, “I don’t have kids at PVUSD. Why should I invest my time, energy, and tax dollars in schools?” However, a study in The Journal of Urban Affairs noted a strong correlation between community satisfaction and school...
Tony's Thoughts: The City has a plan for downtown — you should be there to hear it
The City of Watsonville will have its first public meeting concerning its long-awaited Downtown Specific Plan in the Civic Plaza Community Room B on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
2026 Santa Cruz County Fair theme contest underway
Organizers at the Santa Cruz County Fair are asking the public for ideas for a theme for the 2026 County Fair.
Anyone who has a...




















