Opinion

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.

WATSONVILLE—A buggy that once transported people along the streets of San Jose in the 1880s and ‘90s is now on display at the Agricultural History Project, restored and with a fresh coat of paint. Hassan Zamani, who has volunteered with the AHP for two years,...

I attended the first community forum for renaming the Cabrillo College at its Aptos Campus on June 14. I was probably the only one of Asian descent among about 60 participants.  Five potential new names were presented to us. They were Aptos College, Seacliff College,...

Over 2,500 years ago Siddartha Gautama attained Enlightenment at the age of 35 as he sat meditating under the Bodhi Tree. The term Bodhi means Enlightenment and since that time each Dec. 8, Buddhists throughout the world express their gratitude to the Buddha for...

One of the most significant actions the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took during our recent budget cycle was to authorize the purchase of a new South County Service Center. This purchase will create a second County government building that would provide Mid-...

Memo from Pastor Rene This summer our nation is reeling at the horrific police brutality on display in the death of George Floyd and others, and grappling with the difficult task of criminal justice reform––and the broader plague of systemic racism. But while the country’s focus...

Councilman’s claims of racism were wrong I'm a member of the board of directors of the Watsonville Pilots Association and the vice-chairperson of the Watsonville Airport Advisory Committee. However, I write this letter solely in my individual capacity as a long-time resident of the County...

Over the years of researching, writing and teaching this region’s history I have been keeping top-10 lists such as the most influential natural disasters, floods, earthquakes and the like.  I also have one of the “most ill-advised things done by individuals or groups”—perhaps more bluntly...

Strawberry season in the Pajaro Valley is in full swing, and experts are reporting that demand has steadily increased despite a difficult kickoff. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the California region in mid-March, strawberry producers initially saw a spike in sales. But it was soon...