Parks and recreation update
By Rebecca J. Garcia, Watsonville Mayor
All my grandchildren learned to swim through the Watsonville summer aquatics program. They went underwater, they floated, they played and they swam. So much fun. However, there will be no summer aquatics program this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic....
Working together, staying together during disasters
Over the past five years, we’ve learned how to navigate successive disasters in Santa Cruz County.
We fill sandbags, dig ditches, clear fallen trees, clean up debris, distribute food and help folks cover critical expenses when they are out of work due to shutdowns, floods,...
From the editor's desk, Dec. 7: Education is the key to pedestrian safety
Recently, I was driving on South Green Valley Road near the Kralj Drive intersection, when I noticed a bicyclist about two car-lengths ahead of me cruising along in the bike lane.
Letters to the Editor, Sept. 9: Some people give by going; some people go by giving
Letters to the Editor, Sept. 9, 2017
Guest View: Securing our health, keeping our commitment: Vote Yes on Measure N
Our community stands at a pivotal juncture. Access to life-saving, local healthcare for tens of thousands of residents throughout the Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County is on the March 5, 2024 ballot.
Measure N is not just a bond; it is...
Letters to the Editor, Sept. 25
George Washington in our City Plaza
I found it interesting to read Greg Caput’s recent column about the current debate that our community is having about whether to remove the sculpture of George Washington from our City Plaza. This debate of removal appears to be...
Letters to the Editor, Feb. 19
Helping to feed the community
It felt so good to read the article about the San Jose nonprofit organization called Martha’s Kitchen that is now offering free food distribution to the Pajaro Valley, as reported on, in the Pajaro Valley magazine. They will be handing...
Sarah Ringler, Dec. 28: Top down educational reforms endanger public schools
Evidence shows that teachers are stressed. A 2017 survey in British Columbia found that two-thirds of teachers felt “stressed and emotionally exhausted all, or most of the time.”
Theo Wierdsma column: Counting the votes
Joseph Stalin famously remarked that in an election, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
While stakeholders in our democratic system insist that our votes count, in reality, given our electoral system, which consistently features two major political parties, in...
Guest View: Measures Q and S are flawed
By Kathleen Kilpatrick
Twenty years ago my family and I supported Measure U. Measure U was a compromise measure that came from Action Pajaro Valley, a robust stakeholder process that created the Watsonville Urban Limit line to allow for some growth and protection of farmland...
Students learn the power of the vote at Civics Summit
On Friday, about 150 high school juniors from across Santa Cruz County cast their first ballots on three issues that, if passed, would dramatically...
