Watsonville Community Hospital’s future is in our hands
At present, Watsonville Hospital Corporation is in Bankruptcy Court, putting this essential institution at risk. It’s critical to this region that Watsonville Community Hospital continues serving the community. Fortunately, our local and state governments, health-focused nonprofits, medical establishment and donors are working hard to...
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, May 14
25 years ago on May 14, 1996
The program “Home Independent Study” is open in the PV School District at Alianza Elementary School. The 90-plus students enrolled in it are free to explore their own learning styles, interests and ideas while keeping within state and...
When we silence teachers, we teach fear instead of freedom
There are moments in a community’s life when silence is not neutral. It is a decision.
This is one of those moments in Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
Our Board of Trustees is preparing to approve revisions to Policy 6144 - the so-called “Controversial Issues” policy....
Movie Review: 'Annabelle: Creation' fine for what it is
The second movie of a spinoff series in “The Conjuring” universe about a killer demonic doll, “Annabelle: Creation” is far and away better than the first entry, which debuted in 2014 and gave me one of the best 1-hour-and-40-minute, movie-theater naps I’ve ever taken. The scares are OK, the writing is better and — thank God — tighter than the first and the overall story is good enough to keep you guessing at least for the first third.
Sepi Taghvaei and Zach Friend, June 29: Dental care crisis continues in SC County
We see it daily … the effects of limited access to dental care in our community: adults with abscessed teeth and swollen faces that end up in emergency rooms and county clinics, children who are missing school because of dental pain, seniors who are losing weight due to poor dental health, teenagers who have low self-esteem because of dental decay.
When you’re tired of hoping
“I’m tired of hoping.”
That sentence, spoken to me by a member of our congregation last week, summarizes the mood of many.
Tired of hoping.
Tired of waiting, tired of trying, tired of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel grow dimmer. At the start...
Letters to the Editor, April 23
Immigrants are essential
Immigrants have played a critical role throughout the pandemic in our community. Across the country, nearly 23 million immigrants have been putting their lives on the line in essential roles that keep our children and families healthy, and keep our child care,...
Firework sales should be brought to the public
By Dennis Osmer, former Watsonville Mayor
Hardly anybody likes to work with somebody looking over their shoulder. And of those, nobody likes getting advice from somebody outside the circle. But for City Council and the City Manager, that’s the job they sought and got. According...
Sandy Lydon: How Cabrillo College was named and helped unify the county
In August 2020 a group of faculty, students and community members approached the Cabrillo Board of Trustees and stated that the college’s namesake, the 16th-century navigator and explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, was no longer appropriate to be on the college. He represented, they said,...
Addressing our local housing crisis
Our state and local housing crisis can be measured in many ways: From the more than $70,000 one has to earn to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment locally to our state’s 78,000 unsheltered homeless (nearly half of the nation’s total), to county med
Aptos girls’ soccer clinches fourth straight SCCAL crown | Weeklys Sports...
The Aptos High girls’ soccer team captured their fourth straight Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship banner following a 5-0 crushing win against Harbor...
















