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Mini Shai-Hulud caught spreading credential-stealing malware

The wave of supply chain attacks aimed at security and developer tools has washed up more victims, namely SAP and Intercom npm packages, plus the lightning PyPI package.…

Anthropic is asking investors to submit allocations for the AI company’s latest fundraise within the next 48 hours, according to sources familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump has nominated yet another Fox News pundit for a major position in his administration. He announced Thursday that he’s chosen Nicole Saphier as his pick to be surgeon general. Saphier distinguished herself at Fox as one of the biggest medical misinformers on COVID-19 and a shameless shill for Trump. Saphier got the nod after Trump’s previous nominee…

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, where his opening remarks were interrupted by protests that immediately set the tone for the hearing. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts grilled Hegseth on the suspected insider trading tied to oil prices during the war in Iran. Investigations have shown traders placed more than $1 billion…

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Apple said it will be supply-constrained on Mac mini, Studio, and Neo in the next quarter, too.

Tech millionaires, stock trading, and billionaire-backed super PACs. Ahead of June’s Democratic primary, San Francisco is preparing to usher in a post-Nancy Pelosi era—but not without its own drama. The race to fill California’s 11th District is a “knife fight in a phone booth,” a spokesperson for state Sen. Scott Wiener told Daily Kos. The race’s top candidates—Wiener…

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Who Really Saved Watsonville Community Hospital

Tony Nunez’s claim that he “saved” Watsonville Community Hospital is simply not credible.

The hospital remains in a fragile financial position, with tens of millions in debt and ongoing concerns raised in a recent audit presented to the Pajaro Valley Health Care District. That’s

not what success looks like—and it certainly doesn’t justify rewriting history.

Let’s be clear about what actually happened. In 2022, when Watsonville Community Hospital was on the brink of closing, Santa Cruz County stepped in when others could not. 

The County led a $61.5 million fundraising effort, contributed millions in public funding, secured state support, coordinated bridge financing, and dedicated thousands of staff hours to establish the Pajaro Valley Health Care District.

That work was led by the current Board of Supervisors, county staff, and many community partners. That leadership didn’t come from campaign rhetoric—it came from real action

led by Supervisor Felipe Hernandez and the current Board of Supervisors. Because of

that work, South County families still have access to emergency care, labor and delivery,

and essential health services today.

Taking credit for a broad, community-driven effort—especially when the hospital is still facing

serious challenges—raises real concerns about judgment and accountability. Our community

deserves leaders who are honest about both the progress made and the work that remains.

This is not the time for inexperience or political spin. It’s a time for leadership that understands

how to navigate complex challenges and deliver real results.

Supervisor Felipe Hernandez has done exactly that—securing over $850 million in investments

for the Pajaro Valley, advancing the Pajaro River Levee Project, improving critical infrastructure,

advocating for the opening South County Government Center, and expanding parks and youth

spaces, including Valle del Pájaro Park.

Born and raised in Watsonville, Supervisor Hernandez is a decorated veteran and a proud

graduate of Watsonville High School. He has served our community at every level—as a

Watsonville City Councilmember, Mayor, Cabrillo College Board Trustee, and now as our

current County Supervisor—bringing both experience and a deep commitment to the Pajaro

Valley.

South County needs steady, experienced leadership—not self-promotion. That’s why I’m

supporting Felipe Hernandez for Supervisor.

— Arcadio Viveros

Former Director, Salud Para La Gente

Former Chair, Watsonville Planning Commission

•••

Questioning the local election system

The upcoming Santa Cruz mayoral race raises concerns about fairness and transparency. A crowded field of progressive candidates seems positioned to split the vote and prevent any one candidate, especially one with broader appeal, from reaching the 50% needed to win outright in June.

This nearly guarantees a November runoff, when turnout patterns change. The return of UC Santa Cruz students will significantly alter the electorate, possibly deciding a race that impacts full-time residents year-round.

Whether intentional or not, this dynamic risks eroding confidence in the process. Elections should be decided by ideas and leadership, not by strategic voting.

If the city’s political future increasingly depends on a transient student population, it might be time for a broader discussion about representation and governance. Residents should question whether the current system truly reflects the community’s will.

Santa Cruz deserves a fair, transparent contest — not one that seems rigged for a predetermined outcome.

Mike Lelieur

Santa Cruz

A shocking political event took place in Europe last month. On the strength of a 74% turnout—the largest in Hungary’s history—prime minister Viktor Orban’s 16 year tenure came to an abrupt end when opposition leader Peter Magyar and his Tisza party defied the odds and scored an overwhelming electoral victory over Fidesz, with Orban’s party, securing a 2/3 majority in the incoming Hungarian parliament. 

This victory will allow the new government, if it desires, to change the Hungarian constitution, and will greatly facilitate a comprehensive sweep of state institutions to eliminate the “state capture” imposed during Orban’s rule, which significantly weakened the independence of these institutions. Tisza benefited when all centrist and left-wing parties voluntarily withdrew from the election campaign, giving Magyar a clear one on one contest against Fidesz and Orban.

Outside of Hungary, the biggest immediate beneficiary of this result will likely be Ukraine, which is now set to receive a 90 billion Euro E.U. loan which, up to now, had been blocked by Orban. In addition, Hungary will soon receive 17 billion euros – about 8% of its GDP – in return for the incoming government undoing actions and laws implemented under Orban that were incompatible with EU rules. This outcome appears to highlight how opposition movements can challenge entrenched regimes and offers lessons for democratic recovery. Tisza’s electoral victory prompted multiple analysts to consider whether it could be an indication that far-right political populism is losing ground, that the pendulum is about to swing back.

After the 2008 great recession, right-wing populism surged in western democracies. The movement gained increased momentum during the mid 2010s because of growing anti-immigration sentiment, euro skepticism, and a backlash against globalization and political elites. 

During the mid 2010s political factions increasingly focused on immigration issues, and moved from the fringes to the mainstream, supported by a migrant crisis, which fed into cultural concerns about identity, border security and opposition to “woke” ideologies, economic concerns, globalization and disillusionment with the status quo. 

Many of these issues emerged within the destabilizing environment of rapidly accelerating social change, amplified by a targeted use of social media and news outlets. It became relatively easy for charismatic politicians to champion any or all of these political wedge issues.

The political pendulum refers to the theory that power and public sentiment naturally swing back and forth between ideological extremes—most often between left-leaning progressivism and right-leaning conservatism. After one political ideology remains in power for an extended period of time, the theory is that voters tend to become frustrated with its perceived excess or failures, generating a natural correction toward the opposite side of the spectrum. Observers are suggesting that this is what we are seeing take place in a growing number of countries governed by right-wing populist parties or coalitions.

Far-right populist governments have frequently failed to deliver for many constituencies. They frequently did not manage to fulfill their radical promises after assuming office and face practical governmental requirements. As voters begin to focus on personal economic concerns rather than culture wars, populist parties often struggle with mismanagement, internal scandals, and reliance on charismatic leaders who lack depth. Primary examples of countries with personality-dependent governments include Italy with Georgia Meloni, the U.S. under Trump and Hungary under Orban and Turkey with Erdogan. Aside from these primary distractors challenging populist governments, mainstream parties are beginning to get better at addressing the grievances that fueled the populist surge of the past number of years.

Indications that an ideological shift may be forthcoming appear to be growing. Aside from Orban in Hungary, Meloni in Italy recently lost passage of her flagship referendum designed to initiate judicial reform; in France centrist and left-leaning forces won elections in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other right-wing footholds; in Slovenia liberal prime minister Robert Golob’s Freedom Movement edged out the right-wing former prime minister Janez Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party; and in The Netherlands in a late 2025 election resulted in a significant shift toward the center and left when its far-right led coalition collapsed.

Under these circumstances it may be tempting to predict the beginning of a major political shift. However, as professor Gabor Scheiring  at Georgetown University in Qatar cautions, the steam may be running out of the far-right populist movement, these indicators could also reflect isolated setbacks, not necessarily a pendulum swing.

Stay tuned.

Stop the sprawl!

With the average Global Fortune 500 enterprise expected to run more than 150,000 AI agents by 2028, up from fewer than 15 today, there’s plenty of room for chaos. Analyst firm Gartner says that, without proper governance, those agents will multiply and run amok.…

Did you know there is a second-term Republican congressman from North Carolina named Chuck Edwards who owns six McDonald’s franchises? I certainly did not. Neither, for that matter, did his constituent, Leslie Boyd—until she received a letter notifying her that she was now banned from all of them. The Assembly‘s Jessica Wakeman has the full story, featuring an interview with the offending constituent, Leslie Boyd. A Republican congressman banning his own constituent from McDonald’s for protesting his vote to cut SNAP benefits? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more House Republicans story than this.

The United States has experienced a severe loss of press freedom in the past year under the leadership of President Donald Trump, a new report from the group Reporters Without Borders revealed on Thursday. The nonprofit organization’s World Press Freedom Index for 2026 ranks the U.S. in 64th place, down seven spots from the 2025 rankings. “After a century of gradual expansion of press…

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Mozilla fears wiring an AI API into Chrome will make the web less open

Mozilla has reiterated its opposition to Google's decision to build AI plumbing into its Chrome browser, though rather belatedly now that the technology, known as the Prompt API, is already being tested in Chrome and Microsoft Edge.…

Students in Watsonville High School’s Hope Club unveiled a “Peace Pole” Friday during a community-wide peace ceremony at the campus library.

The permanent monument, engraved with the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in eight languages, was created to serve as a cornerstone of the Hope Club’s mission “to foster unity, reflection, and positivity within the student body and the broader Watsonville community.”

“At a time when there is so much conflict and grief in the world, the students wanted to help uplift people’s spirits,” said school counselor Daisy Nuñez who helped spearhead the project.

Senior and Hope Club member Crystal Martinez said she and fellow students have been working on the project since January.

“It feels good; it has been one of the best things that has happened to me. It was a big struggle, but we made it.” 

Nuñez said students in grades 9-12 worked on the project.

“I have felt so much support from the group, the body of students,” said Angelita Zaratewho lost her son, a WHS 2025 graduate, to suicide. In the company of her husband, Uvaldo, she added. “I felt a lot of warmth in the room today.”

Students presented visitors with a handprinted greeting card with their original artwork.

Around 150 people, including students, staff, families, and the local community attended the hour-long event that included brief talks by Hope Club 10 students who highlighted, among other things, three deaths by the deaths of three Watsonville High students and a stabbing attack recently at the campus.

Hope Club is a student-led organization that focuses on “promoting mental wellness, social harmony, and a supportive campus culture through community-building events and inclusive initiatives,” WHS officials said.

Of the Peace Pole, which features English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Italian, Mixteco, Japanese, and French, student Hilda González-Basurto wrote, “The message of hope in our Peace Pole comes from the understanding that, even though we speak different languages and come from different cultures, we all share the same desire for peace, kindness and connection.”

In addition to a program, created by students, each visitor was presented with a handprinted greeting card with their original artwork.

A Santa Cruz County-based science education group took top honors in a regional underwater robotics competition April 25, earning a return trip to an international contest in Newfoundland, Canada.

The Hephaestus Robotics Team, part of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s X Academy Robotics Clubs, placed first in the advanced Ranger Class at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Monterey Bay Regional Remotely Operated Vehicles (MATE ROV) competition at Watsonville High School. The finish secures the team a spot at the world championships June 25–27 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

“It’s amazing,” said X Academy co-founder Barbara Meister. “It is an affirmation of the talent of young people in our county.”

The win marks the team’s third consecutive trip to the international competition, where students from around the world test underwater robots they design and build.

The annual event drew hundreds of students from roughly 20 schools across the Bay Area. Teams constructed remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, capable of completing mission-based tasks modeled after real-world ocean engineering challenges.

This year’s competition simulated work in the frigid waters off Newfoundland—often called “Iceberg Alley”—where freezing temperatures, rough seas and icebergs complicate research. The scenario was inspired in part by the recent discovery of a dense deep-sea coral garden in the region, a biodiversity hotspot more than 200 meters below the surface.

“Everything we’re simulating in the pool is something that scientists have done out there,” said Matt Gardner, the MATE ROV competition’s technical manager.

Students navigated obstacle courses, retrieved objects from the pool floor and gathered simulated data from icy surface conditions. In addition to the engineering challenges, teams presented their designs to judges, including scientists from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Hephaestus, made up of 25 students from nine high schools across Santa Cruz County and beyond, competed alongside another local X Academy team, Berrybotics, which placed third in the Ranger Class. Valley Christian School’s Warrior Tides took second.

Berrybotics team member Orlando Cazales, 17, a senior at Diamond Tech in Watsonville, said the group saw improvement from last year.

Berrybotics team member Orlando Cazales carries the team’s ROV—called Krabby Patty—from the pool. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)

“We did very well compared to last year,” he said. “And everything went fluid. Everything went smooth.”

The Berrybotics robot was dubbed “Krabby Patty” after the cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants.”

“We’ve poured over eight months of hard work and dedication into our ROV and float,” Cazales said.

Annika Skrovan, 15, an Aptos High School student, said time constraints added pressure during the competition.

“We only had 15 minutes, so it’s important to get as much done as possible,” she said. “We didn’t get everything done, but nobody does.”

Hephaestus student leader Julia Tick, a junior at Pacific Collegiate School, said the team had to quickly build cohesion.

“We started with a lot of new members from eight different high schools across Santa Cruz County and had some serious learning to do—not only in engineering, but also in working cohesively as a team,” she said.

The X Academy Robotics Clubs program is a partnership between the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and nonprofit X Academy. It provides students hands-on experience in engineering, computer science and teamwork at no cost.

“We want to bring as many students as we can, regardless of their ability to pay,” Meister said. “That’s what X Academy’s mission is about: creating more rich STEM opportunities in this county.”

Founded by Meister and her husband, Joby Aviation engineer Tim Sylvester, the program has grown to include dozens of students from schools throughout the county, supported by volunteer mentors who meet on weekends during the school year.

Organizers say the program’s impact extends beyond robotics.

“STEM is really important, and why we do what we do is to get these kids interested in STEM,” Gardner said. “For the youngest kids, it’s really showing them that science is cool.”

Even for students who pursue other careers, he said, the experience builds skills that carry into fields ranging from automotive design to aerospace engineering.

Now, teams are preparing for the 4,300-mile trip to Canada, including fundraising efforts to help cover travel costs.

That includes an event on May 3 from 4 to 9pm at the Hook and Line restaurant at 101 Walnut Ave. in Santa Cruz. 

“We want to bring as many students as we can,” Meister said.

For information or to donate, visit xacademy.org.

It has always perplexed me that the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)—known colloquially as food stamps—doesn’t allow recipients to use the benefit to purchase hot food items at grocery stores.

Bread, steak, fish, potato chips, bananas and nearly every other food item lining the shelves? Sure. The ready-made rotisserie chickens, mac-and-cheese, or mashed potatoes on warming racks near the check-out? Nope.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, nearly 80 percent of SNAP households include a child, an elderly individual, or someone with a disability—families that would plausibly benefit from having affordable and efficient meals and side dishes as dinner options. Until now, it’s been a no-go.

However, there was a tender development in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, when the legislative chamber voted to include an amendment on their broader $390 billion Farm Bill package that redefines “food” from an earlier law as to include rotisserie chicken. (The other hot-and-ready dishes weren’t lucky enough to be included.) Before being folded into the Farm Bill, the idea was most recently touted as a stand-alone bill, the aptly named “Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act” by a bipartisan group of Senators earlier this month.

While the legislation still needs to move through the Senate, the House passed the Farm Bill mostly along partisan lines, 224-220. Just 14 Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in supporting it.

You may be wondering what kind of monster would want to deprive a SNAP households—75 percent of which live below the poverty line—of such a convenient delicacy. But to vote for the rotisserie chicken would have meant to vote for other components of the Farm Bill, too. Namely, $187 billion in cuts to the SNAP program.

That part wasn’t as appetizing to most House Democrats.

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Misty Navarro was appointed to the board in October 2024, joining at a time when five of the seven members were new to elected office.

What followed was a steep learning curve, often marked by volatility, as members worked to learn how to collaborate and govern a district that includes 34 schools, roughly 16,000 students and thousands of employees.

Now, with her term set to end in November, Navarro said the board has largely coalesced around its mission to improve student outcomes, and she is seeking reelection.

She said that progress was reinforced Wednesday during a goals and guardrails workshop, where the board discussed effective meeting management.

“I feel like I kind of just started getting a handle on everything,” Navarro said. “And I feel like our work is just getting started.”

With a potential economic downturn, projected enrollment declines and the ongoing need to improve student achievement, Navarro said maintaining continuity on the board is critical.

“To have another big turnover of the board, I don’t think is the best thing for our district at this time,” she said. “I’ve decided that I’m not quite done yet. I don’t feel like I’ve done what I set out to do.”

Priorities

Navarro represents Trustee Area 7, which includes the Central Coast, La Selva Beach and Rio del Mar.

She said the district is focused on improving third-grade literacy, calling it a “pivotal time” for developing readers.

“And we only have up to go, really,” she said. “If you compare us to the Salinas area and their school district, they have a very similar population to us and they’re outperforming us. There’s no reason that we can’t expect more from our students.”

Improving outcomes will require changes at the district level, Navarro said.

“Clearly it’s not our students that have been failing,” she said. “We haven’t been effective in what we were doing, and we need to do something different.”

Navarro also pointed to improving math performance — particularly preparing incoming freshmen to pass Math 1 — as well as strengthening college readiness, critical thinking and media literacy.

“Those were our four goals that we came up with, making sure that kids have the supports that they need,” she said.

She added that the district must continue focusing on its most vulnerable students, including those experiencing homelessness, those in foster care and students in special education.

“I feel like the majority of us on the board are in agreement about the direction we want this board to go,” Navarro said.

While tensions on the board have eased over the past year, disagreements between Navarro and Trustee Gabriel Medina — who has also clashed with other board members, Superintendent Heather Contreras and some cabinet members — still affect portions of meetings.

Navarro said those challenges have been part of her learning process.

“I really think that we are working together more collaboratively,” she said. “And I own my own responses over the last year, and I have tried over the last eight months or so to not take the bait and try to rise above it.”

If reelected, Navarro would continue her tenure following a recent round of layoffs affecting teachers and other employees, actions the district took to address a budget deficit.

She said she does not want those decisions to define her time on the board.

“We’ve had to make some really hard, painful decisions to maintain fiscal solvency,” she said. “And I don’t want to just make all the tough decisions. I want to actually be around when we start seeing the changes happen and can focus more on our student outcomes. I want to be around to see our students being more successful.”

Navarro said improving mental health services is another priority, while ensuring those services remain financially sustainable.

“As an emergency physician, I see this all the time in my work, and it’s something that I feel really passionate about,” she said. “But at the end of the day, what we were paying for the services we were providing is not sustainable. Mental health is still a huge priority to me, and I’ve been in lots of discussions with our mental health providers and our academic counselors, who are still going to be there.”

Navarro’s reelection bid also comes as the district prepares to receive a report from the newly formed Sustainable Schools Advisory Team, which is studying whether — and how — to close schools with low enrollment.

“It’s going to be painful no matter what,” she said. “Nobody wants their neighborhood school to close. It comes with a whole host of difficult decisions and community engagement, and it’s not an easy process, which is why we’re trying to be really mindful and have as much community engagement as possible.”

A cartoon by Tim Campbell. Related | GOP uses shooting to shill for Trump’s gaudy ballroom…

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Construction work has been completed on a major sidewalk and road repair project along Main Street (Highway 152) in Watsonville, where a chunk of land collapsed at Struve Slough. 

The rupture—between Clifford Avenue and Watsonville Square where Nob Hill is located—took out a length of sidewalk, curb and gutter on the north side of Main Street, forcing officials to close the sidewalk to pedestrians.

Sarah Christensen, executive director of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, said that since the job fell under emergency status, it was completed in “record time.”

Watsonsville City Council member Casey Clark said he was urged by residents in his district to push for completion of the project.

“It feels wonderful,” he said Wednesday during a completion ceremony. “We just increased the safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Working with Caltrans and raising the funds was a win for Watsonville. We’re so pleased to get this done.”

City and County officials joined Regional Transportation Commission officials for a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday on Main Street. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

The $5.09 million repair, performed by Caltrans with Graniterock as the contractor, included excavation, placement of lightweight fill, paving, new sidewalks, curbs, gutters and drainage improvements. Upgraded paved trails that lead into existing slough trails were also completed.

KnowBe4 says 86% of phishing it tracked used AI, and inboxes are only the start

Give a man a phishing kit and he might get lucky a couple of times; teach an AI to phish and it'll change the landscape, if KnowBe4's latest phishing trends report is accurate.…

Cabrillo College has the only dental hygiene program in the Monterey Bay region. (B. Sakura Cannestra — Santa Cruz Local)

APTOS >> Cabrillo College’s dental hygiene program was put on a three-year probation by state regulators last month and the threat of losing its accreditation looms over its teachers and students.

An investigation by the Dental Hygiene Board of California, which oversees statewide consumer safety, regulations and licensing for the industry, found eight violations of state law during a Feb. 12 visit to the college’s dental hygiene clinic. 

At meetings March 27 and 28, board members were outraged by the violations and suggested the program should lose its accreditation outright. Instead, the board gave the program an opportunity to improve during the probationary period and levied the maximum fine of $5,000.

“I was stunned, I just want to say that,” Dental Hygiene Board member Dr. Julie Elginer said at the meeting. “This is unacceptable — absolutely, categorically, for public protection purposes, unacceptable.” 

According to a letter from the state board, violations included staff ratios below the minimum, administrators changing students’ grades to advance them to the next course, students accessing the clinic without supervision and students lacking the minimum clinical hours required.

The school’s clinic offers low cost dental care to the public, where student hygienists work with patients under faculty supervision. 

“I am uneasy about letting a program like this continue because I think it really does endanger our consumers,” said Nicolas Kiet Quach, another member of the dental board.

The college is now required to file quarterly reports with the board and may have surprise visits from board representatives during the probation period.

“We don’t have the hygienists we need to serve our population.”

– Dr. Joshua Sanchez, vice president of the Monterey Bay Dental Society.

Cabrillo College has the only dental hygiene program in the Monterey Bay region.

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Travaris Harris, vice president of instruction at Cabrillo, said the current cohort of students are on track to graduate in May, and the program extended the clinic’s hours to make time for students to complete missing hours. He added that they’re working to address some of the violations, including hiring a second full-time employee and another administrator.

“I am confident that, as we go through the process and do our due diligence with reporting, that they’ll see that we address all of the concerns they had, and our program is on track,” Harris said in an interview on Monday.

‘We’ve all worked really hard’

A dental hygiene student said they’re worried the probation will damage their cohort’s reputation and overshadow their two years of education. The student lives in Santa Cruz County and requested anonymity for fear of academic retaliation and risking future job opportunities. They said they pursued dental hygiene to help improve oral health care access throughout the region, and that this program is integral as an affordable and accessible education option. 

“For us as a cohort, we’ve been told that it shouldn’t affect us personally,” the student said. “It’s just concerning to us because we, as community health care workers, we want more hygienists in the area.” 

The violations ranged from not having enough faculty to meet student needs to allowing all of the program’s 20 students to pass classes despite not meeting clinical hour requirements. Students were missing between 12 and 44 hours of required clinic experience.

Another violation included that seven students did not meet additional course requirements but were able to enroll in the next course prior to completing the prerequisites. According to state records, administrators changed students’ grades before they had completed missing coursework.

Many violations are related to the program’s narrow budget, according to the state investigation, including the department dropping to one full-time employee and having students pay for personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. 

Since the state board meeting, the school has begun making efforts to aid the program. Students were required to find their own patients for the clinic, often tabling at local events or around campus for advertising. Administrators are now helping to find patients by advertising the clinic more on social media.

The current student said as a result, they’re seeing more patients, and some classmates have now met and exceeded the required clinical hours. 

Worries remain about the future of the program. 

“We don’t have the hygienists we need to serve our population,” said Dr. Joshua Sanchez, vice president of the Monterey Bay Dental Society. “This program is so vital in trying to catch up and get health providers into our offices to take care of our communities.”

Sanchez said there would be vast consequences if Cabrillo’s program lost its accreditation, as it’s the only one in the Monterey Bay area. 

“We’re just so close to the end and don’t want anything to happen,” said the current Cabrillo dental student. “We’ve all worked really hard to be where we are right now.”

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