Don’t repeat the mistakes of 2009: Protect Medi-Cal dental benefits
This week, I stood before the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health not only as the CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care, but as a voice for our 18,000 patients in Santa Cruz County—who rely on Medi-Cal for essential dental care.
My message was...
Addressing crime from all angles
I didn’t know Feliciano Martinez Perea but his story is not foreign to me. It’s a story that many Watsonville residents know. It’s the immigrant’s story. Martinez Perea hailed from the small town of San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, Mexico. He came to Watsonville to...
Tony’s Thoughts: Hank Garcia, please reopen Fox Theater
Hank Garcia, we’ve never met before—I hope that changes in the near future—but I want you to know you’ve had a massive impact on my life. You helped me see new worlds. You helped me learn English. You helped me fall in love with...
John Song: A meaning behind ‘Thank You’
John Houseman, the British-American actor following his Academy-winning role as Prof. Kingsfield in “The Paper Chase,” became more famous for his commercials for the brokerage firm Smith Barney. His signature look was wearing a bowtie with a three-piece Oxford tweed suit and reading glasses...
Hard is to be born
“Hard is to be born into human life, now we are living it, difficult is it to hear the teachings of the Buddha, now we hear it. If we do not cross over to the Truth in the present life, in what life shall...
How you find daily peace
Memo from Pastor Rene
In my last column I wrote about how a constant focus on grim news actually changes the way your brain works, because you’re in constant threat analysis mode. Higher reasoning is diminished. You’re more prone to emotional instability.
Yet there is a...
Felon arrested with firearms, suppressors, ammunition and methamphetamine
An investigation that began with a traffic stop accelerated when investigators found multiple firearms, firearm suppressors, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, firearm manufacturing components and methamphetamine...
