Fight the polarization
Memo from Pastor Rene
As I write this, the outcome of the presidential election is still unclear. Or should I say, the winner is unclear. What’s very clear is how deeply polarized our nation has become. The red went blood-red, the blue ice-blue, and the...
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, May 7
25 years ago on May 6, 1996
The Cinco de Mayo festivities in the Plaza keep growing, drawing 8,000 people and diverse entertainers this year. Sunday’s festival featured the Mariachi Eleazor Cortes group, the salsa band Orquestra Sabor Latino, the White Hawk Dancers, Banda Torero...
Are the inmates running the asylum?
If there was any doubt that the inmates are running the asylum in our administration right now, the group chat on the Signal messaging app about the attack on Yemen should have erased it for all but the most diehard MAGA supporters.
The conversation intended...
A call for voice of reason
There are always two sides to every story, and Trustee Georgia Acosta and the three other trustees who voted to terminate Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez need to tell us why they took that drastic action. Unfortunately, they cannot do so...
It’s not too late to file your taxes
Thousands of families are leaving money on the table in Santa Cruz County. That’s cash that could pay for much-needed food, rent and more. The latest numbers show that 19,343 Santa Cruz County residents have claimed $5,496,402 from the cashback tax credits like the...
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...
What Makes Watsonville Community Hospital—and America—Great
Thirty-three years ago, while my family was preparing for a birthday party, I decided to arrive early. My mother was shopping for a cake for my sister’s second birthday in our small hometown of Cuerámaro, Guanajuato, Mexico—a rural town of at the time just...
Movie Review: Solid cast saves underwhelming 'Tag'
Movies like “Tag” keep me curious as to why Jon Hamm is not a bigger thing. Sure, he was a massive star during the “Mad Men” television series, but since the end of that show, he hasn’t turned into the movie star that he so clearly has the potential to become. I guess seeing him steal the limelight time after time in key supporting roles will have to do for now.
Stand up for health equity
By Jason Johnston
We know that the suffering and death of Covid-19 has been far more severe in our local communities of color, particularly the Latinx communities in South County. And we would like to believe that we live in a community with progressive values,...
Community leaders host rally for Measure E
Dozens of community members and local leaders gathered at a rally Friday at Watsonville Community Hospital in support of Measure E, the temporary half-cent...





















