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Watsonville
May 10, 2025

Gullible grandma vs. determined scammer

By DeAnne Hart, of Watsonville I return to my country home with two canisters of propane for the camp stove and lantern in anticipation of a third long dark evening without power. My husband and helper Joelle meet me at the door, pulling up a chair...

Luis Alejo, March 20: The voting rights gladiator who changed California politics forever

California’s Latino community has lost its greatest voting rights gladiator. Last Friday, the legendary civil rights lawyer Joaquin G. Avila lost his battle to cancer after previously suffering from a stroke. No one was more accomplished than him when it came to fighting for Latino political empowerment and representation.

Letters to the Editor, Dec. 13

Politics is keeping Watsonville stuck I was quite bemused when I read that the Watsonville Planning Commission denied issuing a use permit to the developers of the drive-thru establishments on N. Main Street because of air pollution from idling cars! This is such shortsighted thinking!  Sure,...

True and real

Jay Shinseki Watsonville
MEMO FROM REV. SHINSEKI “A human being, his material possessions, and his surroundings are merely shadows of his mind. However, this Truth cannot be understood by an ignorant person who thinks the thought that things exist everlastingly or that things become completely extinct. These two...

Letters to the Editor, Sept. 4

The Pajaronian
First Lady was sincere, dazzling  I felt that First Lady Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention was completely sincere and her words were bursting with dazzling light. She strikes me as being a person who truly and deeply cares about the wellbeing of...

Luis Alejo | A 25-year movement for peace and unity

Exactly 25 years ago this Sunday, the Watsonville community was shocked after the tragic shootings of 9-year old Jessica Cortez and her 16-year old brother, Jorge Cortez at El Nopal Bakery in Pajaro.

The drive-through discussion is disappointing for many reasons

In the days leading up to Tuesday’s Watsonville Planning Commission meeting I did several hours of background research on the proposed project at 975-1075 Main St. The more research I did, the more disappointed I became. The project is straightforward: 20,000 square feet over three commercial...

Understanding housing | Mayor’s Update

Rebecca Garcia
By Rebecca J. Garcia, Watsonville Mayor Soon after I was elected to the Watsonville City Council I had the opportunity to visit several farmworkers’ housing conditions. What I found was five adults and four children living in a 2-bedroom duplex, eight adults living in a...

Woody Rehanek: Science proves pesticide’s destructive nature

For the last 18 years, I taught a special education class in the Pajaro Valley. Many of my students were farmworker children with learning disabilities: problems paying attention, reading difficulties, hyperactivity, autism, lower IQ and struggles with self-control. I was shocked to discover that one of the most widely used pesticides in the world — chlorpyrifos — has, after over 20 years of solid research at UC Davis, Berkeley, Columbia University and elsewhere, been linked to these difficulties in learning and behavior.

True & real community

Jay Shinseki Watsonville
Question: “When you look at humanity what surprises you most?”  Answer: “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the...
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Queer Youth Leadership Awards set for Saturday

It has been almost three decades since local organizers launched the Queer Youth Leadership Awards, an event created to highlight young people whose work...