Opinion

Homelessness remains one of the most pressing social issues of our time, particularly in communities like Watsonville.  The latest 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) count shows that Santa Cruz County has maintained gains from the previous year, recording the lowest number of people experiencing homelessness since counting...

Watsonville Community Hospital is vital to the economic success of the Pajaro Valley. Businesses, their employees and customers all benefit from local access to healthcare.  From employees to medical providers, the hospital provides nearly 1,000 local jobs and medical care for over 100,000 people...

Directed by Andy Muschietti (“Mama”), the second live-action adaptation of the beloved Stephen King book about a cosmic entity that terrorizes kids by disguising itself as a clown is a near perfect movie in several respects. It sinks its teeth into you with its gripping horror and keeps you laughing, smiling and engaged with its excellent script and top-notch cast.

It is so easy, ridiculously easy, to simply point at someone else and say, “He’s not in our group.”  Ever felt that way? I know I have, but I confess I’m not proud of it.  Even churches make that mistake. Arthur Herman’s book “How the...

Maria came to us with a molar that had been throbbing for months. She'd been managing the pain with ibuprofen—not because she was ignoring it, but because she couldn't find a dentist who accepted Medi-Cal. As a farmworker in South County, she couldn't afford...

Last month we observed the one-year anniversary of when Covid-19 brought all of our lives to a sudden halt.  Personally, this year has been a challenge not only health wise and financially, but emotionally and creatively as well. Like many of you, I lost so...

I would say the summer blockbuster season usually begins on the first weekend of May, but the last two weeks have been filled with duds and small independent flicks. There was no way I was going to watch “Breaking In” or “Life of the Party” last weekend — I think I’ve had my fill of Melissa McCarthy playing the same “aw-shucks-look-at-miserable-me-fall-off-of-things” role. So here’s my look ahead at the upcoming summer movie season.

By Dan Walters Gov. Gavin Newsom, newly inaugurated Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and legislative leaders are pledging decisive action on California’s homelessness crisis, which raises a pithy question: Why did it erupt during a period of strong economic growth? The reasons often offered include a...

It is to my dismay upon reading that yet another breach in the Pajaro River Levee has occurred. This has happened numerous times through the years resulting in floods that have inundated the area. The repairs amounted to nothing more than a band-aid.   Following the...

The Pajaronian has traditionally avoided endorsing candidates and most other issues during election cycles. Our reasoning is simple: a news outlet’s job, we believe, is to provide as much information as possible from all sides of issues and to let our readers make their...