Opinion

The Japanese love cherry blossoms both for their beauty and as harbingers of spring, but also because their short life reminds us of the transience of life. Sweet but sad.  In the 1920s the Pajaro Valley Japanese community donated and planted hundreds of cherry blossom trees...

By Christian Garcia Like many other communities, Watsonville has significant challenges. We have an ailing local economy, affordable housing needs, needs for better access to healthcare and education, aging infrastructure, funding needs for local parks and youth programs, and the list goes on.  Inspiring people to...

By Denise Elerick, of the Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz County Substance use disorder is now widely recognized in the medical community as a chronic illness which responds to treatment. Similar to other chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, remission and recurrence...

Memo from Pastor Erickson This week’s Gospel lesson is about the Baptism of our Lord. In it, you may find the geographical references quite interesting. Mark tells us that John the baptizer appears in the wilderness along the Jordan River and that folk from the Judean...

The flooding in January in Watsonville was traced to the buildup of debris in the Salsipuedes and Corralitos creeks. With the threat of El Niño this winter, we can have a repeat of this year’s flooding.  With the release of Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-10-23,...

Letters the Editor, Aug. 2, 2019

Last week, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees swore in a new student trustee, Itzi Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez attends New School and is looking forward to providing a voice for all the district students. We had an opportunity to speak with...

Standing up for Asian Americans The Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter of the National Japanese American Citizens League (W-SC JACL) is sincerely grateful for the support expressed in Theo Wierdsma’s column entitled, “Xenophobia erupting,” and to the Pajaronian for publishing it on Feb. 26. We thank Theo Wierdsma...

Letters to the Editor, July 6, 2018