Tony’s Thoughts: Hank Garcia, please reopen Fox Theater
Hank Garcia, we’ve never met before—I hope that changes in the near future—but I want you to know you’ve had a massive impact on my life. You helped me see new worlds. You helped me learn English. You helped me fall in love with...
Healing Together: The Progress and Promise of Watsonville Community Hospital
Trust is not built on words alone—it is forged through action, teamwork, and empathy. This holds true in times of prosperity, but is even more critical during hardship and crisis. Few experiences unite people like the shared journey from loss to pain, to recovery,...
Australia, a country on fire | On My Mind
Major bush fires continue to burn in Australia garnering worldwide concern. Thus far 24 fatalities have been reported, including three volunteer firefighters, and experts are assuming that entire species of animals and plant life will be wiped out by the fires, according to various...
Photo Story: Aviation Education
Fourth grade students from Mar Vista Elementary School get an up-close view of a Robinson 22 helicopter Tuesday during a tour of the Watsonville Municipal Airport.
Now in its third year, the community outreach program by the Municipal Airport exposed kids to various aspects...
Celebrating new birth
literal new birth: This year we welcomed into the world our grandson Emmett—and two more grandchildren are due before the end of the year!
I hosted Emmett’s mom, my daughter Elisabeth, on my daily video blog recently. As she pointed out, the year 2020 and...
Rick Longinotti, March 10: Our county needs transportation justice
In U.S. cities just prior to the automobile revolution, there was plenty of social inequality, but a lot more equality of mobility than we have now.
This week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, Feb. 26
Compiled by Steve Bankhead
25 years ago on Feb. 23, 1996
A 13-member delegation from Watsonville’s sister city Kawakami, Japan began a whirlwind tour here of our lettuce industry. The lettuce industry began in Japan during the U.S. occupation after World War II when a mess...
Bonsai enthusiast bids farewell
My long-time friend Don White has died. If the name escapes you, he was the friendly man whose photo I ran in the R-P each year for the past 10-plus years tending his vast collection of bonsai trees in the back yard of his Carmel Street home.
Letters to the Editor, Aug. 13
Sheriff Oversight Commission needed
On behalf of Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Santa Cruz County, we submit this letter to draw your attention to urgent needs in our community that have been ignored for too long. We trust you agree that each of us...
Letters to the Editor, Jan. 23–29
Passenger rail price estimates too high
One can never convince me that restoring the Santa Cruz Branch rail line for passenger rail would cost an...






















