Opinion

It is widely accepted that our dependency on automobiles is a potent contributor to the climate crisis. What is not so well understood is how auto dependency initiated a new phenomenon: transportation poverty.  Prior to the automobile revolution, walking was how both rich and poor...

25 years ago on May 23, 1996 Nobody knows Watsonville High School like Mas Hashimoto. Born at home just two blocks from the campus, he’s spent two-thirds of his life there; first as a student, then as a teacher of history and geography. He knows...

Questions surrounding PVUSD ethnic studies decision As a former member of the Ethnic Studies Community Cooperative Committee, I read and presented the following open letter to Ms. Jennifer Holm during the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 8. I have some...

It is unfortunate that the good people involved with Pajaro’s recovery, have not focused on retail development in the town itself. Yes, housing is paramount, however without jobs to boost the economy, it will stay depressed.  Employment is a major issue as Pajaro recovers and...

Hospital is a lifeline for Watsonville I had an array of emotions after reading that the Watsonville Community Hospital got approved for a bond to fund much-needed repairs.  Currently, Watsonville is home to around 51,000 people, and for many, this hospital is all that they have...

I am at a loss as to why the PVCHD Board of Directors have not responded to my emails to their website. I have sent emails to their contact listing since as far back as April 2022, yet with no response, other than to...

Recently, the attorney general’s office completed paperwork for an initiative that, if qualified for the 2024 ballot and approved by voters, would require California’s nearly 6 million public school students to take a course in personal finance. The proposal, by an organization called Californians for...

How quickly we forget. Recent activity centers around the levee system on the Pajaro River. Yet, the first flooding in 2023 was in Watsonville, when the Salsipuedes and Corralitos Creeks overflowed. There are lessons from that flooding that need to be applied to those...