Opinion

Thousands of Monterey and Santa Cruz County families were forced to evacuate March 11 after the Pajaro and Soledad rivers flooded this rural agricultural area. The storms arrived at the beginning of the growing season, just as farmworkers were going back to work and...

Soon the “Name Exploration Subcommittee” of Cabrillo College's Governing Board will transition into the next phase of the process adopted to consider potentially changing our community college’s name and identity. This controversial issue resurfaced mid-2020, and has continued as a topic of discussion of...

We celebrate National Health Center Week (NHCW) by honoring the amazing people who create lasting oral health for those most disadvantaged.  In Santa Cruz County, only one in three of our low-income neighbors with Medi-Cal can access the dentist. As the largest dental provider in...

The Pajaro Valley community recently learned about the tragic death of an Aptos High School teen on the school’s campus. This has led to outrage, grief and racialized commentary. During this critical time, trauma-fueled responses, reactionary behavior and near-sighted solutions can lead to collateral...

Over 30,000 under-resourced adults and children in Santa Cruz County rely on affordable dental care to live full, healthy, pain-free lives.  Across the State, 10 million adults, seniors, and people with disabilities depend on the Medicaid program (known as Medi-Cal in California) for their oral...

Nearly seven years ago I posted a video to social media that, sadly, is no longer viewable. It was a 20-second clip recorded underneath the Watsonville High School press box at Emmett M. Geiser Field. In the video, I ever so slightly nudged a...

City leaders have every right to be proud of Watsonville’s dropping crime rate, capped off by no homicides in 2016.

Navigator Schools, which runs Watsonville Prep on the grounds of E.A. Hall Middle School—and will soon expand to Ann Soldo Elementary School—should find its own space as soon as possible. In the meantime, the organization should immediately pay back the hundreds of thousands of...

Letters to the Editor, Nov. 28, 2017

Hilton Hotel construction Of course developer Mr. Patel has every reason to feel “disheartened” regarding the opposition to his Hilton hotel project on Western Drive. Here is a man who has invested time and money in an effort to finally build something upscale that will benefit...