Mayor’s column August 2025: In praise of the airport
When people hear “Watsonville Airport,” it often brings to mind moments of resilience and pride—whether it was serving as a crucial lifeline after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, playing a key emergency role during the 2020 CZU fires, or even welcoming a presidential visit...
Guest view: Feeding hope and nourishing community
By Erica Padilla-Chavez, Cindy Larive and Susan True
Shelly and Marty Hernandez go big on their annual Holiday Open House. Shelly, who has a passion for cooking, starts prepping weeks ahead. Over the years, the Hernandez open house has raised tens of thousands of meals...
Opinion: Crime and Punishment
After being incarcerated on death row for 35 years, and after surviving a multiple hours-long botched lethal injection attempt 16 months earlier, on Jan. 25 Kenneth Smith became the first person in the world to be executed with nitrogen gas.
Alabama state officials described his...
Letters to the Editor, Nov. 8
Here’s my concern folks
Forty percent of our fellow citizens:
believe lying is OK (over 13,000 and counting)
2. believe one needn’t pay one’s bills (contractors and city police that protect presidential rallies)
3. believe stealing from the government is OK (emoluments clause)
4. believe that UC No. 1 (unindicted co-conspirator #1)...
Question of the Week
Yes: 91 No: 22
Public Comment
Joey Elijah Martinez: The city is focused on stuff that’s a waste of money but doesn’t do nothing about all the syringes all over Ramsay Park and downtown. Focus on that first please.
Sam Ayala: Shut down the...
Jimmy Dutra: METRO’s dramatic recovery maintains viable public transit options for county residents
Three years ago, in 2014, Santa Cruz METRO, your county public transit system, was in dire financial straits, with insolvency being a real threat within a couple of years.
Remembering Jimmy Carter
America lost a giant on Dec. 29, when our 39th president, Jimmy Carter, passed away at the age of 100.
After his wife of 77 years, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, died a year ago, President Carter decided to stop his treatment for diagnosed metastatic...
Letters to the Editor, Dec. 23: The road to tax reform — the rich get richer
Letters to the Editor, Dec. 23, 2017
Deputies: Man drove stolen car to face charges for stealing a...
A man was arrested Tuesday for driving a stolen car to the Monterey County Superior Courthouse in Salinas, where he was scheduled to appear...



















