Opinion

The start of the New Year greeted all of us with more water than any of us, including meteorologists, had anticipated. And again, this past week our neighbors in Pajaro were devastatingly flooded. Although Pajaro isn’t technically a part of Watsonville or Santa Cruz...

Have your say in downtown’s future The Watsonville Downtown plan needs attention. Watsonville is an agricultural town. Walker Street, running through a busy industrial area, is its backbone. Please do not reimagine the Walker Street area. We do need good, safe access from the train...

You can take an express bus from Watsonville to Santa Cruz without traveling a whole lot longer than it takes by car—so long as you travel after the morning peak commute hours. If you hop on a 91X bus at Main Street and Green...

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.

25 years ago on July 1, 1996 Watsonville’s Spirit of Watsonville Committee organized a full schedule of fun across the Pajaro Valley leading up to the annual Grand Parade on the Fourth of July. The weekend prior had live banda music and dancing in the...

Renowned 20th-century theologian, Karl Barth, said that one should, “preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” That is to say, what pastors and priests preach ought to be faithful to scripture and applied to our current context. There...

One of the most significant actions the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took during our recent budget cycle was to authorize the purchase of a new South County Service Center. This purchase will create a second County government building that would provide Mid-...

As a pilot based at Watsonville since 1980, I am shocked at the Watsonville council’s decision to close the crosswind runway. The dissenting four council members (Montesino, Salcido, Quiroz-Carter and Orozco) voted against a compromise that would have retained the cross wind runway AND...

With great sadness and anger, I am reading in the news about a surge in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) around the U.S. From the man that opened fire in Georgia on March 16, killing eight people, including six women of Asian...

Thank you, John Laird The Democratic Women’s Club (DWC) of Santa Cruz County thanks State Senator John Laird for his swift action on introducing legislation to save the Watsonville Community Hospital, recently purchased by the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project, a consortium of government agencies and...