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Cabrillo College has corrected seven of eight violations identified in a state investigation of its dental hygiene program, but it remains on three years of probation and must pay a $5,000 fine after investigators found issues including inadequate clinic supervision and students falling behind on required clinical hours.

The Santa Cruz County housing market looks similar to what it did last month, as inventory and sales remain high during the summer months. However, the war in Iran has heated up yet again, bringing more uncertainty into the economy and, by association, mortgage rates.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

In choppy surf off of La Jolla, fisherman Shane Volberding fought to land a yellowtail, a silver and gold fish prized in the sushi seafood trade.

Gulls wheeled above the water as the fish dove and darted against him, dragging the line. One crank at a time, Volberding reeled it in, jabbed it with a gaffe and then hoisted it on deck. As he grappled with the thrashing fish, deckhand Destiny Louise Silva hauled in another yellowtail and dunked it in a bucket, tail up.

The swift, back-to-back catch was the highlight of an unusually productive day on the water that yielded seven yellowtail and other fish, not counting the ones snatched by thieving sea lions.

“That’s a really good day for yellowtails,” Volberding said. “They’re usually very hard to catch.”

That lucky happenstance belies the unpredictability of California’s commercial fishing sector, where the speculative nature of the catch collides with complex regulations, economic hurdles and a graying fleet.

Volberding, 27, is one of the younger captains in a fleet in which the average age is 48 and many captains are looking toward retirement. And he’s one of relatively few who didn’t enter the trade through family connections.

To address those shortfalls and protect the supply of locally caught seafood, UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography launched a fishing apprenticeship, designed to train new commercial fishers on fishing techniques, rules and safety protocols. 

The program has propelled careers for a few, including Volberding. But it has also exposed gaps in the industry that prevent fishers from making a living and discourage newcomers to the trade.

Pay for commercial fishers across the West Coast has plummeted over the past decade, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Median annual crew pay dropped by about a third, from $90,468 in 2014 to $61,592 in 2024. Captains’ earnings plunged from $173,271 to $108,972 over that period. In San Diego, pay rates are even lower.

“It’s revealing a lot about what needs addressing within the industry, if we really want a resilient, sustainable food system with seafood as a part of it,” said Theresa Talley, a coastal specialist with California Sea Grant, who coordinates the apprenticeship.

Training the next generation of fishers

Despite its coastal locale, San Diego’s fishing industry and seafood supply are more tenuous than you might imagine.

At least two-thirds of the seafood that Americans eat is imported, and some estimates paint an even bleaker picture. In a 2016 report, Talley estimated that just 10% of seafood consumed in the city of San Diego comes from local fishers, and only 8% of San Diego’s 86 seafood markets consistently carried San Diego-sourced seafood.

“Once dubbed the ‘Tuna Capital of the World,’ employing more than 40,000 people directly or indirectly in the tuna industry … the county is now home to just 130 local commercial fishermen,” Talley wrote.

These days, the tuna on your plate might come from Mexico, while your salmon fillet was likely farmed in Chile, Norway or Canada. Imported seafood is often cheaper than U.S. caught fish, which is subject to strict environmental rules and catch limits. Competing with less regulated fisheries puts additional strain on American fishing fleets. 

To sustain locally caught seafood and backfill the declining ranks of California’s fishing fleet, Scripps introduced its apprenticeship in 2020. 

Birds surround a fisherman’s boat off La Jolla. Credit: Adriana Heldiz / CalMatters

The program provides instruction in key aspects of the fishing trade, including Coast Guard safety protocols and emergency drill conductor training, fishing regulations, methods and conservation. It guides fledgling fishers on how to market and sell their seafood. 

“Fishing isn’t just dropping your line in the water,” Talley said. “You need to know navigation and safety and fishing and engine repair and business”

This was never going to produce large numbers of new deckhands for the fishing fleet. Classes are small, with just a handful of students per session. The program took a hiatus during the pandemic between and then came back on line in 2024.

So far, 11 people have graduated and six are still fishing, Talley said. Four more students are in training now.

Apprentices participate in what Talley calls a “boot camp style” course over the course of two or three months.

It started in 2020 with 130 hours of shore-based training, then added hands-on sessions on diesel engine repair and marine mechanics in partnership with the San Diego-based Maritime Institute. Then apprentices spend 1,000 hours on-the-job with local fishers.

“They’re training across these topical areas that the fishing communities and the fishing industry helped us identify,” Talley said. “And then we help connect the apprentices with commercial fishing vessels.”

That’s where things get tricky. Although commercial fishing captains urged Scripps to create the apprenticeship, few ultimately stepped up to mentor graduates, Talley said. Some captains worried about losing time showing beginners the ropes. And the insurance cost of taking on a new crew member can be prohibitive.

Deckhand Destiny Louise Silva works to reel in a yellowtail while fishing off the San Diego coast.

For apprentices, it’s unsteady gig work. Deckhands get a percentage of the catch, so their pay depends on the size of the haul. They’re also expected to help ready the boat for fishing trips, scrub barnacles from the hull and prepare gear. Those tasks are typically unpaid. 

Without another job, pension, or family support, it’s tough to earn enough to live on, fishers acknowledged.

A deckhand in San Diego earns about $15,000 to $50,000 net per year, said Peter Halmay, 85, a founder of the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group, and an urchin diver for more than half a century. That’s below the per capita income of $57,083, and insufficient for housing and other expenses in one of the country’s costliest cities.

“It goes to show you that a deckhand in the fishing business can’t afford to live in San Diego,” Halmay said. “And that’s the problem we’re getting at.”

A fishing captain can make $100,000 to $200,000 annually he said, but that’s gross income, and permits, gear and other expenses take a big chunk out of that.

“If you’re entirely reliant on commercial fishing for all your economic needs, that’s a hard puzzle to put all the pieces together to make that work consistently year after year,” said Peter Brownell, 53, an earlier Scripps apprentice who left a career as a Ph.D. sociologist at a San Diego nonprofit to become a fisher.

Halmay said fishers need to support each other, build their ranks and engage the public. He helped develop the apprenticeship program with that goal in mind.

“You’ve got to change the fishing culture and you have got to make the fishermen and the public appreciate this culture,” he said. “These are professionals that take pride in bringing in their catch, and they bring in the best catch and they harvest sustainably because it’s in their best interest to do so.”

A day at sea

Volberding got hooked on the ocean early. Born in San Diego, he lived in Idaho for a few years as a child before returning to his hometown, where he “fell in love with surfing.” 

He stayed near the water, working at a fish market cutting and selling fish, in seafood restaurants and on sport-fishing boats. In 2020 he joined the Scripps apprenticeship program, which covered the basics of commercial fishing. But he really cut his teeth with his mentors, who set him to work pulling spot prawn traps, taught him fishing techniques and instilled the “work ethic thing.”

“I owe them huge, dramatic credit for my success,” he said. “They work harder than anyone I know.”

He fished from a jet ski for a while then got his own boat, a 25-foot Imemsa panga. Last month he sailed out in mid-morning fog to fish off La Jolla. As rough waves rocked the narrow boat, Volberding and Silva pulled in a small mako shark and dozens of mackerels while hunting for yellowtail to a party music soundtrack of The Commodores’ “Brick House” and Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite.”

Fishing has always come naturally to him: “When I was in Boy Scouts I was the kid catching all the fish and the other kids were wondering, how I was catching all the fish? I had a knack for it.”

Near La Jolla, Volberding moved frequently across the water, reading ocean color and temperature, monitoring atmospheric pressure and watching for birds gathering and fish flopping. Small splashes were mackerel. Bigger splashes meant yellowtail.

As soon as he hooked one, he reeled hard as the powerful fish fought against the line. Several times sea lions beat him to it. 

“We got more bites – a big, big yellowtail, like a 30-pounder – and they got stuck in the kelp and a sea lion stole the yellowtail,”  Volberding. “And then it broke the line and then ate it with all his friends.”

As soon as they got fish on deck, Volberding and Silva euthanized them using a Japanese technique called shinkei-jime. Inserting a wire into the spinal cord they killed the fish instantly to prevent the meat from spoiling and preserve its buttery texture and flavor.

That’s just part of the job. Volberding markets his fish to high-end restaurants and sells them at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market at the Port of San Diego on Saturdays.

He offers what he calls “value-added” products, including the shinkei-jime killed yellowtail and filleted mackerel, which command a higher price. Sometimes he crews on friends’ boats, buys tuna from them and sells those fish. 

“You gotta be good at fishing,” he said. “Be smart. Yeah, being good at sales.”

From left, fisherman Shane Volberding and his employee Christopher Ceballos sort through fish at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in downtown San Diego. Credit: Adriana Heldiz / CalMatters Not everyone can make it work

For Brownell, fishing was a mid-career switch from his previous job as research director for the Center on Policy Initiatives, an economic justice nonprofit based in San Diego.

“I definitely was interested in being in the water and operating boats, in my efforts to not be operating a desk,” he said.

He worked on habitat restoration in San Diego and got a seasonal job with the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska, before turning his attention to fishing. Brownell went through the Scripps  apprenticeship, where he was introduced to Dan Major, a fisherman with Plan B Sustainable Fisheries in San Diego.

Brownell crewed for Major, fishing for crab, rockfish, sanddabs and lobster.

The two eventually partnered on an experimental fishery for brown box crab, a chunky crustacean known for its sweet, delicate meat. In return for the opportunity to catch the spiky crabs, they gathered data for fisheries scientists.

“He was a good mentor, and I think we were a good team,” Brownell said.

Eventually Brownell bought his own fishing boat and marketed his fish at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market. Then the bottom dropped out of his business.

“Most of what I was making on my own was fishing sanddabs, but then that fishery closed,” he said. “That’s part of the vagaries of commercial fishing, is that you work on something that may not continue to be available to you.”

That’s a common problem. While a boat’s catch varies from day to day, the mere opportunity to fish is also speculative.

In addition to a commercial fishing license, fishers need specific permits for most species. The permits are competitive and boat captains tend to hold them as investments, which means newer fishers could be cut out of the fishery. Halmay said only a fraction of the captains who hold urchin diving permits actually use them each year.

Even holding a permit for a species doesn’t mean they’ll get to fish for it. State and federal regulators manage fisheries to maintain healthy populations, and shut them down once the annual quota is met, or if environmental conditions threaten the species. 

After winding down his fishing operation, Brownell moved to the Bay Area to run a debris removal boat for the Army Corps of Engineers, deploying navigation and mechanical skills he acquired in San Diego.

Brownell still keeps his own boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and maintains his commercial license in hopes of fishing the coveted salmon season. That fishery was closed for three years, but partially reopened this year. He plans to try his luck with salmon this summer when weather conditions permit.

“I do love both the fishing and the bounty of the sea and providing for people from the sea,” he said. “I’m hoping the fisheries continue to rebound and we’re allowed more generous use in the years to come, fingers crossed.”

Customers gather in front of fisherman Shane Volberding’s booth at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in downtown San Diego. Credit: Adriana Heldiz / CalMatters

Janelle Louie, another Scripps apprentice who fished for several years with the late San Diego Captain Doug Dirkse, started selling t-shirts on a GoFundMe page to support their business after salmon fishery closures decimated the industry.

“I wasn’t aware of this issue when I started, but now understand how difficult it can be to stay afloat as a full-time small boat commercial fisherman,” Louie wrote on the GoFundMe drive.

Other apprentices have tried their hand at fishing before moving onto more stable employment. Darian Schramm, owner of Paramount Fish Co, mentored one of the Scripps apprentices, but found he couldn’t offer steady enough work to keep him on.

A few years back Schramm, 48, made a similar career u-turn as Brownell, turning in his laptop after 15 years in computer programming. The remote tech job allowed him to combine work, travel and hobbies, but he wanted to do “something potentially more useful.”

“I could surf and fish and travel,” as a programmer, he said. “Then the computer thing just kind of soured for me. Now I’m part of the food system here in San Diego, and I can give back to the community through fresh, local food.” 

He was happy to take on an apprentice, Sebastian Torreblanca, and thought they worked well together. But he understood when Torreblanca took a full-time job with a local city instead.

“For Sebastian, he was into it, he loved it,” Schramm said. “But at the end of the day he had a mortgage, he had to support his family.” 

It would help if Scripps could subsidize apprentices while they get started, Schramm said. And he warned that new crew members should view the job as a starting point that requires investment of time before it pays dividends. 

“This is getting your feet wet,” he said. “You can’t halfway do it, you have to fully believe in it.”

Fisherman Shane Volberding pulls a yellowtail onto his boat near the La Jolla coast. Credit: Adriana Heldiz / CalMatters

Part of the reason fishers face tough odds is because they seldom join forces. Working on the water or the wharf, out of wifi and cellphone range, they have little opportunity to organize, attend meetings or lobby lawmakers.

“A lot of fishermen are kind of solitary, so it’s not easy to get them together,” Schramm said.

They guard their best spots and fishing methods, wary of giving away secrets to competitors. 

Volberding declined to reveal certain techniques for landing and handling fish. But as he hauled in yellowtail throughout the recent fishing trip, he alerted friends by radio to let them know where fish were biting.

It didn’t compromise his own catch. Around sundown it began to sprinkle and Volberding headed for shore. At dock he laid out a mako shark, two barracudas, a bucket of mackerel and seven yellowtail with gleaming, gold fins and tails, valued at roughly $250 each, or around $13 per pound.

The apprenticeship aims to foster that kind of knowledge sharing by pairing novice fishers with experts who can guide the next generation. 

“We’ll get together, and we’ll talk about it,” Halmay said. “We’ll share our experiences, and we’ll all rise together. And that’s how you’re gonna succeed is by working together.”

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The post Many California fishers are nearing retirement. Can the industry save its graying fleet? appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

In order to be the champ, one must beat the champ. 

The Watsonville 14U All-Stars squad did exactly just that following an 8-1 victory against defending back-to-back champion Santa Cruz All-Stars in the PONY NorCal Coast Region championship at Franich Field in Watsonville on July 5.

“It’s a big accomplishment because we’ve always been in that race to battle with Santa Cruz or Mid County,” Watsonville coach Moises Leonor said. “We’re like the three-headed monster when it comes to Santa Cruz County.”

During the Coast Region tourney, Watsonville opened with an 8-1 win over Marina All-Stars, followed by a 2-0 triumph against Mid-County All-Stars behind a combined one-hit performance.

Watsonville has showcased balanced baseball in every phase of the game throughout the regional tournament. 

On the mound, pitchers Andrew Ruiz, Mel Martinez, Andre Diaz and Dante Ponce combined for a 0.00 earned run average in three games.

Behind the plate, catcher Julien Montes helped anchor the defense by throwing out six of seven attempted base stealers during the regional tournament, while the offense received contributions throughout the batting lineup.

Others on the roster include Robin Casella-Kummerer, Aaron Garcia, Adrian Garcia, Adam Guerrero, Avery Keller, Carmelo Luna, Mateo Luna, Freddie Deion Martinez and Isaac Paz-Vargas.

On Tuesday, the youngsters proved that resilience, teamwork and timely hitting can carry a team a long way. They wasted no time carrying that momentum into the next stage of postseason play. 

Watsonville rallied from a 5-0 deficit entering the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Paso Robles All-Stars, 6-5, in dramatic fashion in the teams’ opener of the Super Regional tournament at Bel Passi Ballpark in Modesto.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” said Leonor, who refused to hang his head and give up while watching from the dugout. “I’m telling the boys the same thing, game isn’t over, don’t let the time run out on you.” 

Leonor said they were in a situation where anything could’ve happened, and all they needed was one batter to reach base to get the ball rolling.

Paz-Vargas began the rally by drawing a walk, and the rest was history. 

“Eventually with that first guy getting on, it just kind of snowballed,” Leonor said.

Watsonville, which pounded out a total of 12 base hits, erupted for six runs in the sixth frame.

The inning was highlighted by Ponce’s two-run single, followed by Adrian Garcia delivering the game-winning RBI single to complete the come-from-behind win.

Ponce batted a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while “Freddie Ice” Martinez earned the win in relief while striking out five over three innings. 

Watsonville continues postseason play against hosts Bel Passi on Friday at 7:30pm. The winner will continue its journey toward the West Zone Tournament in West Covina and, ultimately, the PONY World Series in Washington, Pennsylvania.

If there’s one thing Leonor, along with fellow coaches Mel Martinez Sr. and Cesar Garcia, have to tell the players moving forward it’s, “Never give up,” Leonor said. “It ain’t over until you know who sings.”

#tdi_1 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item1 { background: url(https://pajaronian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PAJ2628-Watsonville-PONY-2026-Coast-Regionals-celebration-WEB-80x60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat; } #tdi_1 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item2 { background: url(https://pajaronian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PAJ2628-Watsonville-PONY-2026-Coast-Regionals-Andre-Diaz-WEB-80x60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat; } #tdi_1 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item3 { background: url(https://pajaronian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PAJ2628-Watsonville-PONY-2026-Coast-Regionals-Mel-Martinez-WEB-80x60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat; } #tdi_1 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item4 { background: url(https://pajaronian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PAJ2628-Watsonville-PONY-2026-Super-Regionals-WEB-80x60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat; } #tdi_1 .td-doubleSlider-2 .td-item5 { background: url(https://pajaronian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PAJ2628-Watsonville-PONY-2026-Coast-Regionals-WEB-80x60.jpg) 0 0 no-repeat; } 1 of 5 The Watsonville 14U All-Stars team celebrates on the field after capturing the PONY NorCal Coast Region title following an 8-1 victory over Santa Cruz All-Stars in the championship game at Franich Park in Watsonville on July 5. (contributed) Watsonville 14U All-Stars pitcher Andre Diaz helped the team capture the PONY NorCal Coast Region title following an 8-1 victory over Santa Cruz All-Stars in the championship game at Franich Park in Watsonville on July 5. (contributed) Watsonville 14U All-Stars pitcher Mel Martinez helped the team capture the PONY NorCal Coast Region title following an 8-1 victory over Santa Cruz All-Stars in the championship game at Franich Park in Watsonville on July 5. (contributed) The Watsonville 14U All-Stars team poses for a photo following a 6-5 victory over Paso Robles All-Stars in the teams’ opening game of the PONY NorCal Super Region tournament at Bel Passi Ballpark in Modesto on July 7. (contributed) The Watsonville 14U All-Stars team captured the PONY NorCal Coast Region title following an 8-1 victory over Santa Cruz All-Stars in the championship game at Franich Park in Watsonville on July 5. (contributed)

A June 11 stabbing in Watsonville that left a man injured has now led to a fourth arrest after the investigation led detectives into Arizona.

The attack happened on June 11 at the 7-Eleven on the 200 block of East Lake Avenue, where a 46-year-old man was stabbed, Watsonville Police said. The victim is expected to survive. Days later, three suspects were arrested.

The ongoing investigation took detectives to Arizona, where they worked with the Arizona Department of Public Safety State Gang Task Force where they identified a fourth suspect, Bryan Rascon, 33.

Officers from Watsonville and Arizona served a search warrant at a home, where Rascon was taken into custody. He will be extradited and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on charges of attempted homicide.

Maria came to us with a molar that had been throbbing for months. She’d been managing the pain with ibuprofen—not because she was ignoring it, but because she couldn’t find a dentist who accepted Medi-Cal. As a farmworker in South County, she couldn’t afford to lose a day’s wages to sit in an emergency room, let alone pay for the care that would follow. By the time she found Dientes, the infection had spread. What could have been treated with a routine dental visit had become a serious health risk.

Maria is one of nearly 18,000 patients Dientes serves each year. Ninety-seven percent of our patients live at or below the federal poverty level. Nearly half are Latino, and many work in the very industries that keep California’s economy running. For them, access to dental care isn’t about convenience. It’s about staying healthy enough to work, care for their families, and live with dignity.

That is why the state budget signed this month brought welcome news.

California’s leaders made the difficult decision to delay the proposed reductions to Medi-Cal dental benefits for one year. In a budget year defined by extraordinary financial pressures, they recognized that preserving access to health care—even temporarily—was a priority worth protecting.

We are deeply grateful.

Here on the Central Coast, we are fortunate to be represented by legislators who understand both the importance of a strong safety net and the realities facing community health providers. Speaker Robert Rivas has consistently emphasized protecting working families. Assemblymember Dawn Addis brought thoughtful leadership to difficult budget conversations as Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health. Senator John Laird, as Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, helped navigate extraordinarily challenging fiscal decisions while preserving essential health care services.

These were not easy choices. We thank them for making them.

But this is not the end of the story.

The proposed dental benefit reductions were postponed—not eliminated. The financial pressures facing California remain real, and federal actions continue to create uncertainty for the future of Medicaid and Medi-Cal funding. Unless we continue making the case for oral health, these same conversations will return next year.

We’ve seen what happens when dental benefits disappear. Patients delay care until pain becomes unbearable. Small infections become medical emergencies. Emergency departments become dental providers of last resort. Clinics struggle to absorb the demand while provider participation declines. Rebuilding that capacity takes years.

We cannot afford to repeat that cycle.

At Dientes, we also know that government funding alone has never been enough to meet the needs of our community. Every day, we rely on the generosity of donors, foundations, corporate partners, volunteers, and community organizations who step forward to help fill the gaps that public funding cannot. Their support allows us to provide care to uninsured patients, invest in modern equipment, expand services, and ensure that financial barriers never become barriers to health.

That partnership between public investment and private generosity is what makes our safety net resilient.

As we look toward next year’s budget, we hope policymakers continue building on this year’s progress. California has made remarkable strides in expanding access to dental care over the past decade. Protecting those gains requires sustained commitment—not only from elected leaders, but from health care providers, advocates, community organizations, and philanthropic partners who believe that oral health is an essential part of overall health.

Maria received the treatment she needed. Six months later, she returned for a routine cleaning—the first preventive dental visit she’d had in years.

That follow-up appointment may not seem remarkable. In truth, it is exactly what success looks like. A person receives care before a crisis develops. A family avoids unnecessary suffering. A worker stays healthy enough to earn a living.

That is the promise of Medi-Cal dental benefits. It is a promise worth protecting.

This year’s budget gave us time. We are grateful for the leadership that made that possible, and equally grateful for the community that stands beside us every day to ensure that, whatever challenges lie ahead, our neighbors continue to receive the care they deserve.

Human cost of pesticides should be considered

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District from 2017-2023 had a total of 14,486,224 pounds of pesticides applied in its boundaries—more than any other school district on the California coast or Salinas Valley.

During the same 7-year period, PVUSD had 152,651 pounds of organophosphates applied here. By the 2024-25 school year, PVUSD 15.61% of students in PVUSD qualified for special education—higher than the county or state averages. There may be a correlation here.

In cost/benefit analyses of organophosphate use, benefits to farmers are emphasized, while the losses of human learning and earning potential are rarely factored in. A largely ignored study, “Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disability Burden due to Early Life Chemical Exposure in the USA from 2001 to 2016,” by Abigail Gaylord et al. (2-

15-2020), calculated the potential economic losses that accompany collective and cumulative IQ losses in our country over a 15-year span, due to OP exposures in children.

The study quantified cases of Intellectual Disability, defined as IQ less than 70, and estimated the lifetime economic cost of each IQ point loss as $22,268 in 2018 dollars. Each case of Intellectual Disability was valued at a loss of $1,272,470 of potential lifetime productivity.

Overall, this study found that 26.66 million IQ points were lost due to OP exposures 2001-2016, with an estimated cost of over $594 billion. This is roughly equivalent to the total value of US crop and livestock production in 2025—an eye-opening comparison.

Big Ag and Big Chem playbooks often promote conventional chemical farming as essential to putting cheap “quality” food on the table, but OP use and its negative impacts on children’s learning and earning potential is but one example of the hidden costs of pesticide use.

Big Ag and Big Chem have been using the same “doubt, delay, & denial” tactics that Big Oil successfully used for decades to counter research showing that global warming would result from burning fossil fuels. Someday these multinational corporations will be held accountable and liable for their negative impacts on children’s learning and economic potential. The horse is out of the barn, the chickens are coming home to roost, and soon it may be time to pay the piper.

Woody Rehanek

Watsonville

•••

New housing requires careful consideration

Affordable housing is important, but taxpayers deserve an honest discussion about who pays the bills. California’s Property Tax Welfare Exemption under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 214 allows qualifying nonprofit organizations that provide low-income rental housing to pay little or no property taxes.

The City of Santa Cruz is planning for 3,736 new housing units by 2031, including hundreds of affordable units. Every new development increases demand for police and fire protection, roads, water and sewer systems, parks, libraries, and other public infrastructure.

When tax-exempt housing contributes little or nothing in property taxes, those costs don’t disappear. They are shifted to homeowners and businesses through higher taxes, fees, special assessments, or reduced public services. Santa Cruz already struggles with aging infrastructure, deteriorating roads, and rising public safety costs.

Affordable housing should also be fiscally responsible. Before approving additional tax-exempt developments, city leaders should require a comprehensive fiscal impact analysis to determine how infrastructure and service costs will be funded. Growth should benefit the entire community—not leave existing taxpayers responsible for an ever-increasing share of the bill.

Mike Lelieur

Santa Cruz

•••

PVFT Is misleading, the public and their members

They are negotiating for smaller class sizes and no cap on benefits. They already have class size reduction due to decreased enrollment of more than 20%. How much more do they need?

No cap on benefits misses the point that benefits have risen over 120% in the past 14 years and will double in the next seven. 14 years ago, benefits were 20% of wages. In three years, they will be greater than 91%, crowding out wage increases in bankrupt in the district. This will lead the state to take over the district, negating all union contracts, and dismissing the superintendent and the school board. Is this what PVFT wants? I do not think so.

One way to do this is to negotiate the total compensation rather than wages and benefits. Separately choices could be given to teachers to take either higher wages and less benefits or the reverse let the teachers decide individually their choice.

Bill Beecher

Aptos

Gisselle Padilla spent much of her childhood translating for her parents, who worked in the strawberry fields after immigrating from Mexico.

Years later, she found herself advocating for her own son during Individualized Education Program meetings, frustrated that she often felt unheard and unable to fully participate in discussions about his education.

Those experiences shaped her career as a therapist. Now, the Watsonville native has taken the next step by opening Innerlight Psychotherapy, a bilingual, bicultural mental health center designed to provide services that she says are deeply rooted in the community it serves.

The clinic, which opened in June, offers individual and group therapy, with a focus on children with special needs, agricultural workers and others seeking trauma-informed care. 

Padilla recently expanded from a single-office private practice by hiring two bilingual, bicultural clinicians who also grew up in Watsonville.

“I don’t think there’s a center quite like this,” she said. “When I see people who look like me, who come from families like mine, they don’t have to explain over and over where they’re coming from. They know that I understand.”

Padilla said cultural understanding can remove barriers that often prevent people from seeking mental health care.

“I’ve had individuals tell me, ‘When I see you, I can see myself,’” she said. “My parents were immigrants who worked in the strawberries for more than 40 years. That connection matters.”

Her own path to becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist was anything but traditional.

After graduating from Watsonville High School in 1992, Padilla earned an associate degree in business from Heald College before putting her education on hold to help support her family. She later married, spent 12 years as a stay-at-home mother and eventually returned to school, earning a bachelor’s degree from Argosy University before completing a master’s degree in counseling psychology at John F. Kennedy University.

She said the turning point came while raising her son, who has ADHD.

Repeatedly attending IEP meetings left her feeling intimidated and unable to advocate effectively for him.

“I said, ‘No, I need to advocate not only for my son, but for other families,’” she said.

Today, she often attends IEP meetings alongside parents as their therapist, helping educators understand the mental health challenges students face and ensuring families have a stronger voice in the process.

The new center reflects another goal: giving Watsonville families access to care close to home.

Instead of traveling to Santa Cruz or elsewhere for services, Padilla said residents now have more options locally through a team that understands the area’s culture and languages.

“We’ll be able to give more support to the families here in Watsonville,” she said.

The opening also represents a personal milestone.

Padilla had planned to open a similar center last year before being diagnosed with cancer shortly after returning from a vacation in Mexico. She abandoned those plans while undergoing treatment.

Earlier this year, however, the Watsonville space became available. Encouraged by her father, she decided to move forward despite continuing treatment at Stanford Health Care.

“He told me, ‘This is what you’ve always wanted. We never know how we’re going to leave the world, so you might as well take it,’” she said.

Padilla said that experience reinforced the philosophy that guides both her life and her practice.

“Hope is such a huge piece,” she said. “No matter what we’re going through, there is always hope. We might not be able to fix everything, but hope keeps us moving forward.”

For information, visit innerlightherapy.com.

Work has started on a lengthy trail for pedestrians and bicyclists along sections of Harkins Slough and Lee roads near Pajaro Valley High School. 

Watsonville Principal Patrice Theriot said the City contracted Monterey Peninsula Engineering to construct Phase 1 of the “Lee Road Trail” project.  

Designed by Mesiti-Miller Engineering, the $1.7 million first phase is expected to be completed by Fall 2026.

Plans call for a 2,000-linear-foot, 8-foot-wide multi-use trail and dedicated bike lanes.  The path begins at Pajaro Valley High School and terminates at a crosswalk connecting to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County’s Watsonville Slough Farm.  

Separately, the Slough Farm plans to build its own 5-mile public trail network on its property.

Phase 1 also features the installation of new guardrails, curbs, gutters, curb ramps, high-visibility crosswalks, and signage from the high school driveway to the Lee Road intersection. Four culverts to manage water runoff underneath the new trail and informational signs highlighting the surrounding environment are also in the works.

Additional work, still awaiting approval, calls for extending the trail across Struve Slough via a new pedestrian bridge, terminating at the Watsonville Slough on Lee Road.

People in six counties around the Bay Area and Watsonville came out on July 3 to voice their disapproval of a federal plan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to build immigration detention facilities in Gilroy and Dublin. 

A crowd of around 20 people lined the Harkins Slough Road overcrossing to Highway 1 for 90 minutes of sign waving for passing motorists, including in large letters, “ICE out of Gilroy.”

“We are out here today because there are two ICE facilities now under construction or almost in operation in northern California,” said Olivia Millard, co-founder of Indivisible Pajaro Valley as she waved a large American flag from the Harkins Slough Bridge above Highway 1. “There haven’t been ICE facilities in northern California yet, and when they have facilities nearby it will mean that they’ll start to fill those facilities.”

The proposed site in Gilroy on Holsclaw Road shows the federal General Services Administration awarded a $26.5 million contract in 2025 to a Beverly Hills-based real estate firm connected to other ICE detention centers.

In a statement emailed to The Pajaronian, ICE said that the construction in Gilroy is for a new office.

“This is not a detention facility,” the statement reads. “The new Gilroy office will enable ICE to support local operations and enhance coordination with regional partners to ensure the enforcement of federal immigration laws at the operating standards of other offices nationwide.”

Sam Earnshaw of Aromas said, “I’m here because I feel we have to keep up our resistance to fascism that is going on in this country now. And coming out to protests like this is one of the many things we can do.”

Millard added that the protest Friday was running simultaneously across 30 bridges in six counties.

The Pajaronian has reached out to ICE for comment.

“ICE is so inhumane,” she said. “They are gulags, they are prison camps, they are ignoring due process. People disappear into the ICE system—they’re often not seen again or shipped off to some country in Africa.

She noted that “we’ve been relatively fortunate” in the Pajaro Valley thus far. “What has been happening in Minnesota might start happening here. That would be horrifying, so we are doing everything that we can to bring attention to this.”

In May my wife, Sarah, and I took a nine-day, 1,250-mile road trip to southern California with a goal of checking out coastal towns big and small. 

We headed south through Prunedale and caught Highway 101 south aiming for Santa Barbara where we had a one-night reservation at the Villa Rose Hotel. 

This was not the sort of journey where we just tried to rip through as many miles as possible, but rather, take in the color of the land and back roads and look into the history and culture of the state we call home.

STANDING HISTORY The San Miguel Mission is right off of Highway 101. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

It’s hard to roll past San Miguel, right off of Hwy 101, without a brief stop at the 1797 San Miguel Mission, whose foundations were laid more than 200 years ago. The architecture, landscaping and rugged small town offers a rich array of our state’s history.

We sailed through Paso Robles, Atascadero and San Luis Obispo and found our way to the Dana Adobe at the eastern edge of ancient sand dunes which reach six miles from the coast and touch the Temetatte Hills as it blends into Nipomo Creek. The natural beauty and diverse biology of Rancho Nipomo and the region has long been a focal point for botanists, geologists and other scientists. Much of the Dana Adobe’s property is like it was nearly 200 years ago, when Captain Dana first arrived in Nipomo.

IN THE AIR A model of a blue cow keeps watch over the entrance to Lavender Fields Forever
on West Highway 246 in Buellton.  (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian) 

According to danaadobe.org, William Goodwin Dana was born in Boston on May 5, 1797. At 19 he left Boston on his first voyage where he circumnavigated the globe. In the mid-1820s, Dana moved to Santa Barbara and soon married his wife, Maria Josefa Carrillo. They eventually ended up in Rancho Nipomo where they had 21 children, 13 of which reached adulthood. Dana died in 1858 at 60 while Maria died at 71. The family continues to have a strong presence in Central California. 

Next, we stopped for a coffee break at Motensen’s Danish Patry in Solvang, the windmill place, in the Santa Ynez Valley. Described by some as the Danish Capital of America, the place was founded in 1911 when a group of Danish Americans purchased 9,000 acres, and in the 1940s began building a string of Danish-style structures including a bunch of windmills, which draws a lot of tourists.

Our first night was in Santa Barbara at the Villa Rose Inn, a Spanish Colonial-style place with a contemporary flair a few blocks off the beach. We learned the nearby pier, or Stearns Wharf, is the oldest working wood wharf in California, built in 1872 by John Peck Stearns to facilitate the transfer of cargo and people from ships to shore.

LIVE THEATER The Granada Theatre opened in 1924 as a movie palace and live performance venue on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara and continues as a premier live performance hub.  (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

After checking in we roamed over to State Street, the main drag through downtown Santa Barbara and stumbled on Milk and Honey Tapas. On top of the warm and inviting atmosphere, their corn and shrimp tacos and calamari were fantastic.

In the next part of this series, we check out the wharf, find my grandparents’ graves for the first time and head south to Venice Beach.

With the weekend nearly here, check out things to do around Santa Cruz County with a recommendation from Lily Belli and a specially curated list from Lookout’s BOLO events calendar.

Recent Watsonville High graduate Azucena Sandoval spent much of her education learning the fundamentals of science she will study this fall at Stanford University.

But she rarely got to put those concepts into practical use. That changed in late June when she participated in SkyLab, a first-of-its-kind partnership between UC Santa Cruz and Watsonville High School through the K-16 Collaborative.

During the two-week course, four students—from sophomores to seniors—designed, built and flew drones above Watsonville to collect real-world data about the atmosphere they experience every day.

“I love learning the fundamentals of science, but when it comes to application, that’s something I felt like I lacked,” she said. “It wasn’t just the conceptual stuff that I’m used to in the classroom.”

Beyond learning engineering skills, the students tackled one of the region’s most pressing issues: understanding how climate and air quality affect the Pajaro Valley.

For assistant professor Javier Gonzalez-Rocha, the program is about much more than teaching students how to build drones.

“It’s really about getting students exposed to science, technology, engineering and mathematics early on and helping them begin developing an identity around becoming an engineer, becoming a scientist, becoming a mathematician,” he said.

They learned computer programming, computer-aided design, 3D modeling, 3D printing and soldering before assembling drones capable of measuring temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity. By the end of the course, they were flying the aircraft using first-person-view goggles that display a live camera feed from the drone.

“We went from no experience with flying drones to a first-person view,” Gonzalez-Rocha said. “We were surprised. We didn’t know how far we would get.”

Unlike commercially available drones that automatically stabilize themselves in flight, the first-person drones require constant control of altitude, direction and speed, making them significantly more challenging to operate.

The skills are paired with research that has direct relevance to the Pajaro Valley.

The drones collect data about the planetary boundary layer—the lowest part of the atmosphere where people live and work. Understanding how that layer changes throughout the day can help researchers determine how smoke, dust, pesticides and other airborne pollutants move through the valley.

Gonzalez-Rocha said the information could eventually help communities better prepare for wildfire smoke, prescribed burns and other air quality events that affect outdoor workers and residents.

“We’re thinking about climate resilience,” he said. “If there are wildfires, are we prepared to respond? Do we have the information that would enable us to make decisions? Should we go for a run? Should we be outside working?”

The work is especially meaningful in the Pajaro Valley, where geography can cause pollutants to settle in lower elevations.

“If we can measure and really understand how the atmosphere is evolving day to day, we can better understand if there are greater risks of some pollution event impacting the local community,” he said.

For the students, the experience brought classroom lessons to life.

“It was a good introductory experience, and I really liked all the hands-on work that we got,” said 16-year-old Leandro Serrano. “We learned how to solder, how to 3D model, how to do programming, and we also learned how to fly the drones, which was a really cool experience.”

The experience reinforced Serrano’s goal of pursuing engineering in college. He hopes to attend MIT, UCLA, USC or UC Berkeley and major in computer or mechanical engineering.

Jesus Contreras, 17, said he especially enjoyed learning skills that engineers use every day.

“My favorite parts were the 3D printing and soldering because they’re very hands-on,” he said. “I’m trying to get into the engineering field. I want to major in engineering, either mechanical or civil.”

The SkyLab program is part of the broader K-16 Collaborative, a partnership between UC Santa Cruz and Pajaro Valley Unified School District designed to create stronger pathways into science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

Although invitations went out to students throughout the district, all four participants came from Watsonville High School. Gonzalez-Rocha hopes future sessions will attract more students as organizers work to reduce barriers such as transportation and scheduling.

He also hopes the program sparks curiosity—not only about engineering, but about the community students call home.

“The students live here,” he said. “They understand these issues because they experience them. This gives them another lens to understand what’s happening around them, and maybe someday help solve those problems.”

The skills are paired with research that has direct relevance to the Pajaro Valley.

The drones collect data about the planetary boundary layer—the lowest part of the atmosphere where people live and work. Understanding how that layer changes throughout the day can help researchers determine how smoke, dust, pesticides and other airborne pollutants move through the valley.

Gonzalez-Rocha said the information could eventually help communities better prepare for wildfire smoke, prescribed burns and other air quality events that affect outdoor workers and residents.

“We’re thinking about climate resilience,” he said. “If there are wildfires, are we prepared to respond? Do we have the information that would enable us to make decisions? Should we go for a run? Should we be outside working?”

The work is especially meaningful in the Pajaro Valley, where geography can cause pollutants to settle in lower elevations.

“If we can measure and really understand how the atmosphere is evolving day to day, we can better understand if there are greater risks of some pollution event impacting the local community,” he said.

For the students, the experience brought classroom lessons to life.

“It was a good introductory experience, and I really liked all the hands-on work that we got,” said 16-year-old Leandro Serrano. “We learned how to solder, how to 3D model, how to do programming, and we also learned how to fly the drones, which was a really cool experience.”

The experience reinforced Serrano’s goal of pursuing engineering in college. He hopes to attend MIT, UCLA, USC or UC Berkeley and major in computer or mechanical engineering.

Jesus Contreras, 17, said he especially enjoyed learning skills that engineers use every day.

“My favorite parts were the 3D printing and soldering because they’re very hands-on,” he said. “I’m trying to get into the engineering field. I want to major in engineering, either mechanical or civil.”

The Skylab program is part of the broader K-16 Collaborative, a partnership between UC Santa Cruz and Pajaro Valley Unified School District designed to create stronger pathways into science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

Although invitations went out to students throughout the district, all four participants came from Watsonville High School. Gonzalez-Rocha hopes future sessions will attract more students as organizers work to reduce barriers such as transportation and scheduling.

He also hopes the program sparks curiosity—not only about engineering, but about the community students call home.

“The students live here,” he said. “They understand these issues because they experience them. This gives them another lens to understand what’s happening around them, and maybe someday help solve those problems.”

This article was contributed by CasinoBeats

City and county officials in Watsonville are paying closer attention to a shift that has been reshaping household budgets for years: the steady migration of leisure spending from local venues and retail stores to digital platforms. Streaming services, gaming subscriptions and online content have become fixed expenses for many Pajaro Valley residents, and local leaders are beginning to ask whether that trend helps or hurts the broader community economy.

The conversation is unfolding against a backdrop of active economic development efforts. Watsonville recently hired a national retail consulting firm, Retail Strategies, to attract new businesses and restaurants—a clear signal that officials are thinking carefully about where discretionary dollars go and how to keep more of them circulating locally.

City Officials Track Digital Spending Shifts

Watsonville’s push to recruit physical retailers reflects a recognition that competition for resident spending has changed fundamentally. Downtown businesses and local event venues now compete not just with neighboring cities but with platforms that have no physical footprint in the Pajaro Valley at all. A resident who spends an evening streaming movies or browsing digital content on a phone is effectively sending money to corporations headquartered outside Santa Cruz County.

City officials reviewing economic data are increasingly aware that digital leisure is not a fringe activity. It represents a substantial and growing share of what households spend each month. That awareness is shaping how planners frame questions about retail attraction, broadband investment and the overall health of the local tax base.

Where Resident Leisure Dollars Are Going

The scale of digital entertainment spending at the national level helps put the Watsonville picture in context. U.S. consumer spending on digital home entertainment reached over $56 billion in 2024, reflecting consistent year-over-year growth in streaming, gaming and related content. That number captures the sheer volume of money flowing out of local communities and into platform-based entertainment every year.

Fintech platforms have seen significant growth, with digital payment services and neobanks capturing spending that once flowed through local bank branches. Subscription-based software services—from productivity tools to creative platforms—represent another category where digital providers capture recurring revenue outside local tax jurisdictions. Streaming services, online gaming platforms and best online casinos in the United States—licensed across multiple state markets with transparent payout structures—all follow the same pattern. Interestingly, California has not legalized online casinos, meaning any revenue generated by residents wagering on regulated platforms flows to operators licensed in other states, entirely outside Watsonville’s fiscal reach.

Local Budget Implications Draw Council Attention

The financial stakes for Watsonville are real. When residents spend on streaming platforms, gaming apps, or out-of-state digital services, those transactions generate no local sales tax and support no local jobs directly. That dynamic sits uneasily alongside the city’s efforts to attract businesses that would generate both employment and tax revenue within city limits.

A Deloitte survey summarized by Variety in 2026 found that U.S. households spend an average of $69 per month on streaming video services, with roughly 90 percent of households holding at least one paid subscription. For Watsonville families already managing high housing and transportation costs, that monthly outlay is no longer optional—it functions more like a utility bill. Council members weighing budget priorities are effectively competing with that fixed spending for any slice of household discretionary income they hope to redirect toward local commerce.

What Regional Planners Are Watching Next

Regional planners across the Monterey Bay area are watching several trends simultaneously. Broadband investment, which expands access to all forms of digital content, is simultaneously a tool for economic opportunity and a driver of more spending on out-of-area platforms. That tension makes infrastructure decisions politically complicated—improving connectivity helps residents participate in the digital economy but also accelerates the outflow of entertainment dollars.

For Watsonville and the broader Pajaro Valley, the broader takeaway from these national trends is straightforward: digital leisure spending is large, growing and structurally difficult for local governments to influence through traditional economic development tools. The most productive path forward likely involves investing in physical amenities and community experiences compelling enough to compete with whatever is happening on a screen at home.

The editorial staff of The Pajaronian was not involved in the creation of this content. The content is for general information and does not constitute the financial, medical or professional advice of this publication. Readers should consult qualified professionals regarding their individual circumstances. The Pajaronian disclaims any liability for loss or damage resulting from reliance on this content.

Girl Scout leaders meet for a dinner in Watsonville in 1957.

A couple of hundred new tenants will be moving in next door, but is that good or bad for a used-car business?

This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

When the Legislature passed the Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, it envisioned a seamless, three-level system that would provide high-quality and low-cost instruction benefiting both those seeking careers and society as a whole.

Under the plan, community colleges would specialize in preparing students for transfer into the University of California and California State University, plus offer vocational and adult education classes.

The state university system would offer bachelor and master’s degrees in education, engineering and other professional fields. The UC would be the venue for research and award not only bachelor and master’s degrees but doctorates.

It never quite worked out as planned, for a variety of economic and political reasons. Instead of cooperating as the plan assumed they would, the three higher education systems slipped into competitive postures, vying for both capital to expand campuses and operational support from governors and the Legislature.

Over the past couple of decades, the competition for money also morphed into battles over academic turf. Community colleges sought authorization to award four-year baccalaureate degrees in some career fields and the state university system, while opposing the community colleges’ academic ambitions, aspired to award doctorates, which the UC system saw as an invasion.

These incursions were signals that the bifurcated roles contained in the master plan were no longer realistic and, with some other trends, should have sparked a reconfiguration guided by the interests and needs of students and those of the larger California society.

Instead, the infighting over who could do what has continued and extended into clashes over differing academic requirements for transfers and other operational glitches, as well as money.

Community colleges and state universities have pursued their expansionist goals one career field at a time in specific pieces of legislation, weaving through the academic and geographical limitations that the Legislature imposed to placate opponents. The result is an odd array of four-year degrees some community colleges can offer and doctorates that the state universities can award.

The situation is a microcosm of California politicians’ chronic inability to deal comprehensively with glaring public policy issues. Instead they tinker at issues at the edges while ignoring the underlying fundamental conflicts.

Another example illustrates the syndrome: the state’s ceaseless squabbling over water. The same interests fight over the same allocation issues year after year as governors and legislators come and go. None are willing to invest the political capital it would take to resolve it once and for all.

Back to the college turf battles.

The ongoing dispute erupted anew in February when the Community College Chancellor’s Office approved three new baccalaureate programs at Mesa College, Moorpark College and Southwestern College over objections from the state university system, which claimed they were duplicative.

Almost immediately two bills were introduced that would, if enacted, make it easier for community colleges to offer more bachelor degrees by making it harder for the state university system to oppose expansion into specific career fields by claiming they are duplicative within geographic boundaries.

Of course the four-year universities oppose the measures, Senate Bill 960 and Assembly Bill 2694, and in some ways that’s understandable since the universities are experiencing stagnating or even declining enrollment. But the bills are moving.

This situation, the competition for students, will become more acute as California’s population plateaus or declines. The shrinking number of K-12 students leads to a shrinking number of college applicants and fierce competition because enrollment drives state financial support.

It’s one of several reasons why California needs a realistic overhaul of the higher education master plan, one that rearranges the systems’ missions and expands options for students.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.

The post Academic turf war between California colleges underscores need for new higher education plan appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

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