Opinion

My good friend Marvin Byers has left this world. His unexpected passing, on Dec. 17, is a day now stamped into my memory. It is a day, that, if I were a city official, would be spelled out in brass and marble in the...

WATSONVILLE—Three organic Pajaro Valley farms will be featured in the 2020 EcoFarm Conference bus tour Wednesday—and a handful of seats are still available. Participants will visit Lakeside Organic Gardens, JSM Organics and Coastal Sun Cannabis/Moon Berry Farm during the tour, which kicks off the...

Mid-January is one of my favorite times of the year. The NFL playoffs are just getting started, and my San Francisco 49ers don’t stink this year, which is a plus. The weather is starting to heat up to the perfect temperature in which I...

Destruction of the Administrative State Perhaps you remember that the title above was Steve Bannon’s goal.  I wasn’t sure what that meant in the beginning, but it is clear now that Bannon (through Trump and his Republican supporters) is achieving his goal, and weakening our...

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...

When I walked into work on Monday morning, a fellow reporter asked me if I’d tuned in to the Hollywood award show known as the Golden Globes, which was broadcasted the previous night. I had not—in fact, I didn’t even know it had aired.  I...

On New Year’s Eve my neighbor Jan invited me to join her and a bunch of our neighbors for a bonfire in her front yard to help close out 2019 and usher in a warm beginning to 2020. By 7 p.m. she had an...

The importance of the youth vote in 2020 Attention young people: Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964) and Millenials (ages 18-35) both represent nearly one-third of the potential voting populace apiece. In 2016, people 65 years and older voted at a 71 percent rate. Millennials voted...

By Congressman Jimmy Panetta and Supervisor Zach Friend As your federal and local representatives, we take very seriously the job of ensuring our communities are safe and resilient. To this end, we have been working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make...

In previous years, I have written about the year in review, however, since we are approaching the turn of the decade this coming year, it seems appropriate to have a decade in review.  As many of you are already aware, the county has been...