Sunday Reads: Wading back into Cabrillo renaming; ditching pesticides in Pajaro Valley; a wet weekend

Powerful winds and heavy rains drenched Santa Cruz County, downing trees and power lines as a major storm hit the region on Saturday.

As of Sunday morning, more than two inches of rain had fallen over a 24-hour period in parts of the county, according to the National Weather Service. PG&E said more than 9,000 customers lost power across Santa Cruz County Saturday, most in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Watsonville area.

Showers are set to continue Sunday along with possible thunderstorms, before tapering off Monday morning, the weather service said.

Cabrillo College name change: The life and death of a good idea

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Splitting the baby down the middle is often the worst outcome of any contentious debate like the Cabrillo College name-change discourse. But in this case, might “Cabrilla” be the answer. The change is as minimalist as you can get, a single syllable, a single utterance. It’s a great idea. And it’ll never happen. Wallace Baine explores in his Sunday column.

➤ PREVIOUSLY: We asked you to vote on a new name for Cabrillo College; here are the results of our reader poll

Healthy soil, healthy people, carbon storage ... the reasons ditch to pesticides are endless

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Pesticide application needs to stop in the Pajaro Valley. It’s not only harming people, it is also damaging our soil and preventing natural carbon emissions from occurring, argues Watsonville resident and former farmworker and teacher Woody Rehanek. Carbon storage in healthy organic soils, he writes, is a plausible, workable method of addressing climate change and could help Watsonville achieve zero emissions in the next decade. Read his Community Voices opinion piece.

➤ SEEDS OF CHANGE: Lookout’s series on the push for organics in the Pajaro Valley

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