Corralitos / Freedom
Posted inFood & Drink

As Martinelli’s pulls back, local schools and nonprofits rally to support Pajaro Valley apple growers

by Lily Belli

After Martinelli’s announced it would not renew contracts with local apple growers, one Pajaro Valley farmer has been flooded with calls, ideas and offers from community members eager to help replace the major buyer. While potential partnerships with school districts, nonprofits and other local organizations show promise, growers say finding markets large enough to absorb the thousands of tons of apples once sold to Martinelli’s remains a significant challenge.

Posted inBusiness & Technology

This week in Santa Cruz County business: Events aim to boost visitors to Seabright amid latest Murray Street Bridge closure; air corridor project underway; Joby-Archer lawsuit developments

by Jessica M. Pasko

With the Murray Street Bridge set to be closed through September, business owners and community leaders have plans to bring visitors to the neighborhoods around the Santa Cruz Harbor this summer. Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly look at local business also includes updates on a project to connect four regional airports, including Watsonville’s; legal jabs between air mobility rivals; and plenty more names, numbers and dates to know.

Posted inOpinion from Community Voices

Pesticide air monitoring in California is an illusion of protection: It reassures the public but fails to measure the real danger

by Kathleen Kilpatrick

For families in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley, California’s pesticide air monitoring system offers the appearance of protection while leaving significant gaps in what is measured and how exposure risks are understood, writes retired nurse and healthcare activist Kathleen Kilpatrick. A single monitor is expected to represent vast agricultural regions where residents live, work and attend school near heavily sprayed fields, even though only a fraction of pesticides are tracked. She argues that the system reassures regulators more than communities, particularly as local residents face overlapping exposures from pesticides, air pollution and other environmental hazards. Real protection, she contends, requires reducing pesticide use near schools and neighborhoods — not simply expanding a monitoring network that captures only part of the problem.

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