Opinion

Last month, I took a trip to San Francisco to visit my friend, Holly, who had recently moved to the city from Oregon. We had met during college and were looking forward to a weekend of catching up and sight-seeing. A near-accident in the middle of the trip ended up putting quite a damper on our mood.

Letters to the Editor, Feb. 1, 2019

Both my great-grandfathers immigrated to Watsonville in the 1850s. Not long after they first arrived, they were introduced to one of our region’s greatest threats to lives and livelihoods: flooding from the Pajaro River and its tributaries. Soon after arriving, my great-grandfather Stephano Martinelli,...

A response to Frank Anderson I was appalled upon reading Mr. Frank Anderson’s letter in the Pajaronian. He erroneously states that the Watsonville-Santa Cruz rail corridor has not been used in “decades.” Not so. As recently as 2016, Iowa Pacific trains were traversing the Santa Cruz...

Thank you, John Laird The Democratic Women’s Club (DWC) of Santa Cruz County thanks State Senator John Laird for his swift action on introducing legislation to save the Watsonville Community Hospital, recently purchased by the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project, a consortium of government agencies and...

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...

Helping to feed the community It felt so good to read the article about the San Jose nonprofit organization called Martha’s Kitchen that is now offering free food distribution to the Pajaro Valley, as reported on, in the Pajaro Valley magazine. They will be handing...

Last week my wife Sarah and I joined our friends Craig and Norma for dinner at Johnny’s Harborside restaurant in the Santa Cruz Harbor. It was the first time any of us have enjoyed a sit down meal indoors since November due to pandemic...

“On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear…” (Gospel of John 20:19a) The time: Passover week. The place: Jerusalem. The scene: An upper room. Locked doors. The stale air is thick with uncertainty about the...

Caltrans is scheduled to close both directions of Highway 1 for a 24-hour block on March 23/24 to make way for the demolition of the 1948 Capitola Ave. overcrossing.  Kevin Drabinski, spokesperson for Caltrans, said the work is the second phase of the three-phase project...