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Salinas
July 17, 2025

Guest Column | How Farmworkers Outlawed ā€˜El Cortito’ 50 Years Ago

For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as ā€œEl Cortito,ā€ was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept farmworkers stooped over for long hours each day. Workers were only able to stand and stretch when they reached the...

Funny Papers Again Column | A Long, Slow-Flowing River — and Not a Soul in It

Steve Wilson
I received an email from a fellow who lives out Jolon way, in which I was asked about a situation I had never really considered and I found that I was probably too close to the subject to have ever had the notion enter...

Window on the World Column | The Grave Digger

Lucy Jensen
It is our family custom, after the passing of a loved one, that we gather together and celebrate the life of that person. Whether it be in church or not, this ceremony of sorts provides closure, for want of a better word. The breaking...

Guest Column | The Impact of Medicare on the Health and Wellbeing of Rural Americans

Mee Memorial Healthcare System Rena Salamacha
In rural America, hospitals are more than healthcare providers — they are pillars of their communities. They deliver essential medical services, create jobs and support the overall wellbeing of thousands of residents who might otherwise face insurmountable barriers to care. As the CEO of Mee...

Funny Papers Again Column | An End to May Columns — in 6-Part Disharmony

Steve Wilson
It is a little after 4 a.m. Monday morning and I don’t have a column written for the noon deadline. In fact, I have only the words you are now reading on paper and no more in my head to follow with. So, I...

Worthy to Print Column | Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

George Worthy
Hello, Neighbors. A couple of things have happened the past couple of weeks that boggles the mind or at least in my mind anyway. Powerful things that snuck up on me and filled me with hope that our little town as well as our...

Funny Papers Again Column | A Little Insider’s Look at Fair Performers and Why Rick Isn’t in This Column

Steve Wilson
So, another Fair has rolled into town and out again. And it was a good one, at least for me. It is the reason this column may fall well short of the usual 1,000 words. I have enough notes and ideas that if combined...

Window on the World Column | Day in the Life of a Pre-Op Patient

Lucy Jensen
As I sat on the shore watching my old friend and my daughter cavorting on paddleboards in the early morning sun, the North Sea an unusually flat blue millpond of joy, I could not help the envy rising inside and it was not a...

Funny Papers Again Column | Soapbox Rants 1 and 2, With an Offer to End With

Steve Wilson
At the end of this month, Saturday, May 31, at 11 a.m. on the northeast corner of Broadway and North Vanderhurst, city officials will have a ribbon cutting marking the opening of the newest addition to downtown. The King City Downtown Plaza and Visitor...

Letter to the Editor | Remembering Ricky: A Call for Justice

To the Editor: May 4, 2025, will be 21 years that we found our son, Ricky, had been murdered. Those monsters took away a wonderful young man who loved his two sons but never had the chance to raise them. Ricky never had the chance...

Local News

Scams

Scammers are targeting PG&E customers at an alarming rate

CENTRAL COAST — Utility scams have continued at an alarming rate during 2025, with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers reporting over $190,000...