Farmworker communities applaud chlorpyrifos cancellation
On the morning of Aug. 14 the Gavin Newsom administration filed accusations against Dow and other manufacturers of the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos.
It’s time for Watsonville to denounce white supremacy
By Frances Salgado-Chavez
Racism didn’t end with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech in 1963. Further, his critiques of the United States government as the ‘greatest purveyor of violence in the world’ led to his assassination. Racism is alive and the...
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...
New year, new beginnings
The 2021-22 school year starts next week. Beginnings are an opportunity to reflect on lessons from the past and build upon them for a new future. Our motto for this year is PVUSD C.A.R.E.S! The “C.A.R.E.S.” portion stands for: Connect, Accelerate, Recover, Enrich and...
Watching war crimes as we prepare for Easter
As I write this, images of atrocities in the city of Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, Ukraine, are crossing our screens. Executed civilians, hands bound, lying prostrate on the road. Neighborhoods targeted and destroyed, leaving innocent Ukrainians in the wake. A cyclist, seemingly shot...
Organic produce sales up 9%, tops $2B for the quarter
Total organic fresh produce sales for the first quarter of 2021 saw a continuation of last year’s growth, increasing by 9.3% from the same period in 2020 and topping $2.2 billion for the quarter, according to the Q1 2021 Organic Produce Performance Report released...
Guest View: Gear up for winter
Santa Cruz County residents are no stranger to powerful and dangerous natural disasters, including winter storms with lasting impacts on our community.
The Santa Cruz County Department of Community Development & Infrastructure (CDI) knows that even as we continue to pick ourselves up after last...
Local grower on cutting edge of organic farming
WATSONVILLE—About 200 people disembarked three large charter buses on Green Valley Road in Watsonville early Wednesday morning as part of the EcoFarm Bus Tour, a kickoff to the EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove this week.
The tour was visiting Strong Agronomy, a management company that...
Sesario Escoto: Why Spanish-speaking and Latino volunteers are important for youth in foster care
The parents of 13-year-old “Esmerelda” were desperately trying to keep her safe, as the girl was acting out and exhibiting high-risk behaviors. However, the parents had their own struggle with alcohol, and one night things escalated into physical violence, and the police were called.
Thousands march for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Thousands of people amassed in the streets of downtown Santa Cruz on Monday morning for the annual People’s March for the Dream, an event...






















