Opinion: Watsonville City Council wrong on runway decision
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...
Pilot program weighs notification of pesticide use
WATSONVILLE—A new pilot program to inform residents of hazardous pesticide applications at area farmlands, under the umbrella of the Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, will go into motion in August.
The program was outlined by Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo at a community meeting at...
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, June 18
25 years ago on June 18, 1996
Today is the 4th annual celebration of the apparition of the Virgin Mary on one of the trees at Pinto Lake County Park. The image was first sighted by Anita Contreras Mendoza as she walked through the park....
The responsibilities of serving on a school board
We usually discuss issues occurring within the district. However, for this month’s column, we decided to take a different approach and shed some light on our roles as trustees and the process of decision-making. What is it like to take on a publicly elected...
Mordechai Ben-Menachem, Aug. 17: Woe to exigencies of false scholarship
Free speech is one of the most basic articles-of-faith for existence of a democracy; vigorous debate of public polices is an integral part of free speech. Both of these values lie at the core of everything “Western Values” stand for and need to be guarded assiduously by us all.
Ask Nicole: Tips for dads and father figures
I have many happy childhood memories of my dad playing the guitar and singing, instigating competitive croquet tournaments (which he usually won), and teaching my siblings and I how to use tools then creating a “workshop” in the garage so we could experiment with...
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, Aug. 13
25 years ago on Aug. 12, 1996
Thousands of farm workers and their families marched through Watsonville, waving flags and banners to protest the United Farm Workers organizing efforts. In March, the UFW announced plans to organize the 15,000 berry workers in the Pajaro and...
Letter: Fairgrounds and community will suffer the most
I came to the Pajaro Valley in late 2000 to serve this community as editor of the Register-Pajaronian. For the next decade, my staff and I covered a series of fair managers and scandals at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds and it seemed the...
Monterey County heritage hog sells for $33K
Gonzales High School FFA Chapter President and Monterey Bay Sectional Reporter Samantha Santos, who was selected as the Monterey County Fair’s 2017 Heritage Scholarship winner, auctioned off two hogs Sept. 2 at the fair, one of which — the heritage hog — sold for more than $33,000.
Teen arrested after chase
A routine traffic stop turned into a chase late Tuesday night that ended with the arrest of a 17-year-old suspected gang member and the...




















