Opinion

By John Gallagher, Grand Jury Supervising Judge  We need the Grand Jury and the Grand Jury needs you. In this time of political polarization at all levels of government, the need for a neutral Grand Jury to investigate, report on government performance and offer solutions...

By GREG CAPUT The Santa Cruz County Fair was facing bankruptcy when Dave Kegebein entered his position to save our county fairgrounds. The state had pulled back funding and thus threatened the existence of the fair. Many county fairgrounds have shut down in California due to...

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,  because he has anointed me  to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners  and recovery of sight for the blind,  to set the oppressed free,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  —Jesus When...

Daniel Craig recently signed on to return as James Bond for the 25th installment of the iconic film franchise. I love Craig as Bond — he’s without a doubt my favorite Bond — but after watching him in “Logan Lucky” that news has me a bit sad. Craig absolutely crushes it as the aptly named Joe Bang in director Steven Soderbergh’s return to the heist film genre and his performance has me itching to see him continue to branch out in different roles. I definitely want him to leave the Bond franchise on a good note — and we all know that “Spectre” was far from good — but I’d much rather see the 49-year-old chase interesting and wacky roles like Joe Bang the rest of his career.

On March 7, 2020, I sat with friends and colleagues around a table at the fairgrounds’ Crosetti building for the annual crab feed. As we laughed and ate way too much, I never imagined the next time I’d be at the fairgrounds would be...

This week, I stood before the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health not only as the CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care, but as a voice for our 18,000 patients in Santa Cruz County—who rely on Medi-Cal for essential dental care.  My message was...

Last month, I took a trip to San Francisco to visit my friend, Holly, who had recently moved to the city from Oregon. We had met during college and were looking forward to a weekend of catching up and sight-seeing. A near-accident in the middle of the trip ended up putting quite a damper on our mood.

Thanks to the staff at the fairgrounds  My husband and I received our second Covid-19 vaccination at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. As with our first vaccination, the entire staff, from those giving directions to the nurses injecting the vaccine, was very polite, friendly and...