Guest View: The long road ahead for Pajaro’s recovery
To say the last three weeks have been tough is an understatement. Overwhelming, heartbreaking, enraging and exhausting is more accurate. The Pajaro levee breach on March 11 came at the same time our community marked the three-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. As with...
Only in Watsonville
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...
Movie Review: Slow-burning ‘Blade Runner 2049’ stays true to what it is
“Blade Runner 2049” is not “John Wick” and that’s a good thing. Villeneuve stays true to the universe, themes and feel that now producer Ridley Scott created decades ago with the first.
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...
Fireworks in the sky are not always a celebration
Each year we hear and see an increase in fireworks throughout our community. This can be distressing to so many people and their pets. These bombs in the sky can trigger unthinkable feelings in people who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), anxiety...
On My Mind: Slowly returning to normal
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...
Todd Guild, Dec. 5: Reflections on help in the wake of a crash
In what felt like a fraction of a second, I heard my wife scream and a crunching-banging sound I later learned mostly came from the car’s airbags inflating.
A city at the crossroads | Letters to the Editor
City at the crossroads
Watsonville is at a crossroads. The Watsonville Planning Commission needs to get its priorities straight. Instead of promoting cannabis dispensaries and the shortsighted thinking of narrowing Main St. down to two lanes, it should be focusing on much more serious issues...
Letters to the editor Sept. 5-11
Prop. 50 stifles diverse voices
California’s Proposition 50, on the November ballot, shamelessly deepens voter disenfranchisement. With 52 congressional districts and voters split at 45.3% Democrat, 25.2% Republican, and 22.3% Independent, California’s representation should reflect this diversity. Yet, only 9 of 52 House seats are...
Noah and the Climate Crisis
Once when I was a youth pastor, a sixth-grade boy came up to me and asked, “Robby, where’s the rules part in the Bible?” Not sure exactly what he meant, I asked if he was looking for the Ten Commandments. “No, the rules part!”...
Aptos wins first-ever CCS championship in school history | Boys soccer
The Aptos High boys’ soccer team went on an unprecedented postseason run during the 2025-26 winter season.
It began with bringing home the program’s first-ever...




















