Let’s give thanks
I hope you enjoyed Halloween with your friends and family. Whether it was carving pumpkins, trick or treating or attending parties, many of us were happy to be out again enjoying the interaction with our communities. This time of year brings with it many...
Juan Carlos Pozo: Watsonville’s fortitude
I am a teacher in Watsonville, California, a community forged in the frost of adversity and the fire of its fortitude. I find joy in my work and dedicate myself to it, not just because of my vocation or love for art—although both are...
Bonsai enthusiast bids farewell
My long-time friend Don White has died. If the name escapes you, he was the friendly man whose photo I ran in the R-P each year for the past 10-plus years tending his vast collection of bonsai trees in the back yard of his Carmel Street home.
Ray Cancino: Community Bridges is committed to transparency and equity
Since the beginning of the year, Community Bridges has been busy helping Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County residents who have been devastated financially, emotionally and mentally by the recent unprecedented spate of storms and floods.
We walked door-to-door in the immediate aftermath of...
Movie Review: 'Rings':First you watch it. Then you die… of boredom
Director F. Javier Gutiérrez’s “Rings” is a disappointing disaster.
This Week in Pajaro Valley’s Past, June 25
25 years ago on June 24, 1996
For the first time in its 15 years of existence, the Monterey Bay Strawberry Festival has awarded its title of Strawberry Queen to two contestants: North Monterey County High junior Nikki Gillot and Watsonville High graduate Norma Fabian....
Life’s doors
Memo from Rev. Mathews-Johnson:
Doors. We use them every day. We open them. We close them. We lock them. We knock on them. We stand outside them. We stand inside them. They lock us in. They lock us out. They keep us safe. They keep...
Felipe Hernandez and Greg Caput: Vote No on Measure D
Greenway’s Measure D is harmful to our community, especially seniors and workers. Measure D is not green and it is not the way.
Voters shouldn’t be fooled by Greenway’s expensive campaign. It’s important to understand that Measure D does two things—it rips out the railroad...
Letter: Youth substance use is a dilemma
We really have a bigger problem as a society when youth are turning to “harder” drugs like fentanyl, heroin and cocaine to try to deal with depression and anxiety.
Empower Watsonville is a youth-led group that focuses on expanding youth advocacy to implement more equitable...
Nourishing Today, Building Tomorrow: The Next Chapter of Our Food Bank
For more than 50 years, our community has demonstrated what’s possible when neighbors care for one another.
Through floods, emergencies, economic downturns and a global...




















