Fish Williams, finance operations director for Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, was presented with a bouquets of flowers Thursday at the ribbon cutting ceremony for their new headquarters on East Lake Avenue. —Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian

An upbeat ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance headquarters at the corner of East Lake and Brewington avenues unfolded under sunny skies Thursday in Watsonville. The new facility is an expansion of PVPSA, a local nonprofit that aims to improve the quality of life of the students and families in the Pajaro Valley by providing health education, counseling and prevention services, and by advocating for public policies that protect their health. Scores of dignitaries joined over 100 people at the catered outdoor event.

I found it amusing to see a proud President Trump waving a copy of the Washington Post newspaper with the bold headlines, “Trump acquitted,” at a meeting Thursday morning. Why would he make this move after he has repeatedly lambasted the Post and almost all media as “fake news,” as liars, shams and “an enemy of the people”? Is he suggesting the acquittal is now fake as well? It was interesting to see our president refuse to shake the hand of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, an event iron clad in ritual and formality. Then, at the end of the speech, Pelosi could be seen ripping her copy of the president’s speech into pieces.

Legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas has died. His son, Michael Douglas said he was 103. His parents were poor Russian immigrants. Douglas, who starred in such films as “Lust for Life,” “Spartacus” and “Paths of Glory,” died at his home in Beverly Hills.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch came back to Earth Thursday after spending 328 days in space, the longest space stay by a woman in history, according to collectSPACE.com. Koch landed on the snow-covered steppe of Kazakhstan with two of her International Space Station (ISS) crew mates, Expedition 61 commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency (ESA) and cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

Plunging from the sky in the grips of a parachute and further slowed by braking thrusters, the three touched down aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft.

Quote of the day: “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” — Ernest Hemingway.

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Tarmo Hannula has been the lead photographer with The Pajaronian newspaper in Watsonville since 1997. More recently Good Times & Press Banner. He also reports on a wide range of topics, including police, fire, environment, schools, the arts and events. A fifth generation Californian, Tarmo was born in the Mother Lode of the Sierra (Columbia) and has lived in Santa Cruz County since the late 1970s. He earned a BA from UC Santa Cruz and has traveled to 33 countries.

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