Farmworkers

A day of mourning in Santa Cruz for the thousands of children who have been killed in Gaza over the last two years. And, Monday marks 60 years since the Delano grape strike began in the Central Valley.

Activists concerned with the health consequences of pesticide use in the Pajaro Valley rallied around Omar Dieguez who is leading a monthlong hunger strike.

Access to clean drinking water is considered a human right. But for some farmworker communities on the Central Coast, it’s not a reality.

Monterey County recognizes the 50th anniversary of a landmark farmworker rights legal case that banned the use of a harmful farming tool. And, immigration courts in San Francisco and Concord close early as Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities ramp up.

Agriculture is a nearly $60 billion industry in the state, but many local farmworkers rely on food donations to feed their families.

The California Small Farm Conference this week is adding immigrant rights and safety to the agenda while unions brace for threats to collective bargaining. Both industries have major roles in the region and are reacting to Trump administration executive orders and actions. Also, residents in the vicinity of the Moss Landing battery plant fire discuss potential health impacts.

The multimedia exhibit, at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, has been several years in the making. It’s the product of efforts by Watsonville Filipinos to show a fuller picture of their families’ lives beyond the 1930 anti-Filipino race riots.

The memorial will break ground this summer and construction is set to finish in winter. It’s among several efforts locally and nationally to acknowledge the ongoing devastation from the pandemic.

Hundreds of millions of agricultural pesticides are sprayed on farm fields in California each year. Those pesticides affect the farm workers who labor in the fields and the communities nearby, where exposure is linked to increases in respiratory diseases, headaches, and even developmental disabilities. Most of the residents in those communities are people of color.

Many businesses across the Central Coast, especially in the tourism and hospitality industries, are slowing or have shut down. But that isn’t the case for…