Climate action and adaptation plan
By Rebecca J. Garcia, Watsonville Mayor
We are experiencing a crisis with the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic. We also are in a crisis with climate change. It is anticipated we have 10 years left to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. In 2015 the City...
We need you, now more than ever
By John Gallagher, Grand Jury Supervising Judge
We need the Grand Jury and the Grand Jury needs you. In this time of political polarization at all levels of government, the need for a neutral Grand Jury to investigate, report on government performance and offer solutions...
Farmers markets bounce back
Grocery shopping is a different experience than what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Between long lines and being in close-quarters, navigating an indoor store can be a challenging and not altogether comfortable experience.
This is why many farmers markets across the Monterey Bay campaigned...
Ag industries buoyed by federal loans
CENTRAL COAST—The Paycheck Protection Program helped save at least 17,000 agricultural jobs throughout the tri-county area, according to data released by the Small Business Administration on July 6.
The program, a part of the more than $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES)...
California ranches, farms take a hit
CENTRAL COAST—Pandemic-related losses to California farms, ranches and agricultural businesses will range between $5.9 billion and $8.6 billion this year, according to an economic study released June 23.
The analysis says the state’s $50 billion agricultural sector has already suffered $2 billion in losses so...
No greater love
Memo from Pastor Rene
This summer our nation is reeling at the horrific police brutality on display in the death of George Floyd and others, and grappling with the difficult task of criminal justice reform––and the broader plague of systemic racism.
But while the country’s focus...
Independence Sunday
Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson
While I was growing up, whenever we moved—which was often in those days because my dad was a Navy officer—my mother would find a job at the local United Methodist Church in our new town playing the organ and piano. As...
Looking within during trying times
MEMO FROM REV. SHINSEKI
“It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one’s own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.”
Teachings of the...
Parks and recreation update
By Rebecca J. Garcia, Watsonville Mayor
All my grandchildren learned to swim through the Watsonville summer aquatics program. They went underwater, they floated, they played and they swam. So much fun. However, there will be no summer aquatics program this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic....
Strawberry industry settles after hectic start to season
Strawberry season in the Pajaro Valley is in full swing, and experts are reporting that demand has steadily increased despite a difficult kickoff.
As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the California region in mid-March, strawberry producers initially saw a spike in sales. But it was soon...
What Makes Watsonville Community Hospital—and America—Great
Thirty-three years ago, while my family was preparing for a birthday party, I decided to arrive early. My mother was shopping for a cake...