Opinion

By Jimmy Dutra, Watsonville Mayor The holidays are typically the happiest time of the year. However, this has not been a typical year. Our businesses have taken a financial hit. Food insecurity is at an all-time high. Stimulus checks are not cutting it. Restless nights...

CENTRAL COAST—Many Monterey County farmworkers are going to work despite testing positive for the novel coronavirus, and some of those laborers are doing so because they are concerned about losing their job, their pay or because their employer told them to. That’s according to the...

For many farmers, the winter months are spent recovering from harvest season and getting ready to plant. Even in a Mediterranean climate like the Central Coast, it is common for farms to use the slower time to reassess. But at JSM Organics in Royal Oaks,...

When I first heard that the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds would be hosting its first-ever drive-thru Christmas lights event, I was both excited and surprised.  Considering the limited budget and resources the Fairgrounds is currently dealing with after not being able to hold its premiere...

By Mercedes Garcia These are the messages I received from Geraldine Ridgway’s op-ed published in Nov. 20 edition of the Pajaronian: “Why can’t you Mexicans be like all the other ethnic groups that were mistreated in the past? Why don’t you just grin and bear it...

By Rebecca J. Garcia The role of a Mayor is to provide leadership in the adoption of policy. Policy is a law, regulation or procedure that provides direction to better serve the community. I was excited to provide leadership as Mayor of Watsonville. I identified...

POW—prisoner of war. What happened to them? Where did they go? From the time civilization first began so began the mystery of the POW/MIA. Many have fought for truth, justice and freedom. Men and women sacrificing their lives for us. As I remember my childhood, I...

Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson I’ve read that Mark Twain once categorized people into three groups: commonplace, remarkable and lunatics. I don’t know about you, but I can think of people who belong in all three groups. Of course, that’s a put-down, so three compliments are in...

Reaching out to an older friend, a parent or a grandparent is never more meaningful than during the holiday season. It warms us, them, and bestows all with human connection, which is an essential component of health and happiness. Covid-19 has made keeping in touch...

By Frances Salgado-Chavez Racism didn’t end with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech in 1963. Further, his critiques of the United States government as the ‘greatest purveyor of violence in the world’ led to his assassination. Racism is alive and the...