—photo by Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian

The 1917 Watsonville Woman’s Club, in Tudor Revival style, has just undergone a new exterior paint job, thanks to the efforts of Masters Painting. Mike Masters said he was pleased with the outcome but added that due to the age of the structure, there are a few aspects of some of its features that could only repaired so far.

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A high-pressure ridge edging over the Pacific toward the West Coast will bump temperature up over the next few days, with low 70s being predicted as daily highs over the weekend. But things will cool down considerably come Monday and into the week, the National Weather Service said.

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If you could use an extra $200,000, now is your time to come forward with information you might have about the murder of Pleasure Point tech man Tushar Atre. He was kidnapped from his ocean-front home Oct. 1, driven by at least two people in a white BMW SUV south along East Cliff Drive, east on 41st  Avenue, south on Soquel Drive and then east on Soquel San Jose Road far into the Santa Cruz Mountains. His body was found later that morning in the BMW in a rural setting where he owned several acres on the 24000 block of Soquel San Jose Road. The reward money is the largest in Santa Cruz County history, Sgt. Brian Cleveland said Wednesday at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office at a press conference that had about a dozen media agencies on hand.

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In Kansas a man had a shocking discovery when he was looking for his keys Tuesday. As he was reaching in between the cushions of his sofa he found a 6-foot boa constrictor. After calling 911, fire officials retrieved the nonvenomous snake and took it to a pet store hoping the owner will come forward.

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Five people in the U.S. have contracted the coronavirus, which is spreading from Wuhan, China. Officials say there are now 7,700 cases in China alone and the death toll stands at 170. The U.S. has now formed a special task force to deal with the issue. There are now 18 countries impacted. The World Health Organization is looking into possibly declaring a world health emergency. The virus is spreading more rapidly that the SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003. Yesterday 195 Americans who had flown out of Wuhan are now being held for 72 hours in quarantine. Health officials say that protective masks people are wearing don’t do much at all in the way of protecting people. Symptoms of the virus include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

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A huge magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba, sending rumbles as far away as Florida and Mexico.

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The downtown Santa Cruz Antiques Street Fair runs Feb. 9 with over 40 vendors. It runs between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Lincoln Street at Pacific Avenue and spills into surrounding parking lots.

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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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