Elections on the horizon | Letters to the Editor
Zach Friend is effective, responsive
I’ve worked with many elected officials over the last 30 years and I can easily say Zach Friend is one of the best. As a constituent, I’ve found that Zach and his staff are responsive as well as effective when...
Sarah Ringler, Dec. 28: Top down educational reforms endanger public schools
Evidence shows that teachers are stressed. A 2017 survey in British Columbia found that two-thirds of teachers felt “stressed and emotionally exhausted all, or most of the time.”
Letters to the Editor, April 29
Reasons to vote against the levee assessment
Everyone seems to agree that the Salsipuedes and Pajaro levees need repair. The public relations information from the new Pajaro Flood Agency isn’t emphasizing some issues that deserve to be considered before you vote—and there are about 3,000...
Theo Wierdsma column: Counting the votes
Joseph Stalin famously remarked that in an election, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
While stakeholders in our democratic system insist that our votes count, in reality, given our electoral system, which consistently features two major political parties, in...
And there I stood with my piccolo
Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson
Composer Meredith Willson once told the story of a band whose music so pleased a king of long ago that he opened his royal treasury to the musicians. He invited them to walk in and to fill their instruments with as...
Letter: Oral health for all
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...
Andrew Mills: Marching for justice
This Monday, at 11 a.m., Santa Cruz Police and the Santa Cruz chapter of the NAACP will march shoulder-to-shoulder as we honor Dr. King — the man who inspired that Selma march and ignited a transformation of American society.
Let’s enjoy this summer
Summer is here and just in time. We are coming out of a pandemic that has affected our lives for more than a year. So many of us were confined to our houses as we continued to live our daily lives. In-person engagement was...
Letters to the Editor
Secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing
Sometimes people tend to believe they have a “right” to smoke, but in reality, there is no constitutional right to smoke. Everyone does have the right to breathe, and a right to clean air. Therefore, multi-unit housing complexes should regulate...
Best and worst movies of 2017
Tony Nunez, the creator and writer of the weekly film column, For the Love of Flicks, recaps the best and worst movies of 2017.
Advocates warn of immigration scam
Legal advocates are warning the public about a multistate scam targeting the immigrant community, with some victims losing as much as $30,000.
According to Claudia...





















