Community foundations set up coronavirus relief funds
Community foundations in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties are responding to the COVID-19 crisis by creating a fund that will financially aid residents most impacted by the coronavirus.
The funds will be made available to nonprofit agencies and will be used to address the immediate...
Santa Cruz METRO steps up disinfecting routines to keep rolling
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Deep cleaning is now routine at Santa Cruz METRO to not only keep their fleet on the road, but to assure riders that busses are squeaky clean.
Every day since early March, before the first person in Santa Cruz County was diagnosed with...
County still weeks away from opening restaurants for dine-in service
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Though some rural counties are allowing restaurants to open for dine-in service, Santa Cruz County officials are still several days away from giving their restaurateurs the green light.
That’s according to county spokesman Jason Hoppin, who on Tuesday said testing and contact tracing...
Second Harvest food distributions to run through August
SANTA CRUZ—Second Harvest Food Bank hosted a drive-thru community food distribution Friday at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Supported by numerous volunteers and members of the California National Guard, the distribution unfolded under overcast skies as part of ongoing county-wide distributions that alternate between the...
PV Trustees approve distance learning plan
WATSONVILLE—With distance learning likely to last through the rest of 2020—and possibly extend through June—the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday tentatively approved the district’s Learning Continuity Plan, a 16-page document that seeks to standardize education for the district’s 19,685...
City using federal funds to help community through COVID-19 crisis
WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville will use a little more than half a million dollars of federal funding to bolster the community’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The City will dish $200,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County to support its county-wide efforts during...
Nonprofits, community groups celebrate farmworkers as lawmakers call for more support
WATSONVILLE—After working a long shift picking strawberries and greens, dozens of farmworkers and their families received the royal treatment thanks to a new program from El Pájaro Community Development Corporation.
Called the Farmworker’s Family Dinner, the initiative treated 38 families—roughly 230 people—to meals from El...
Watsonville, Dominican hospitals resume elective procedures
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Watsonville Community Hospital and Dominican Hospital have restarted offering elective procedures after they were put on hold to help slow the spread of Covid-19 and to prepare for a surge of patients with the disease.Â
This includes procedures such as surgeries, endoscopies, cardiac...
State prioritizes farmworkers for Covid-19 vaccinations
CALIFORNIA—As California deals with a surge of Covid-19 cases, hope is in sight as the vaccine begins to be administered to healthcare workers and long-term care residents.
And on Jan. 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that farmworkers would be included in the next tier.
The announcement...
Smaller classes, fewer days lead district’s plans for fall semester
WATSONVILLE—Many students unable to return to class when school starts on Aug. 14 due to Covid-19 restrictions will attend a virtual academy, an all-online option created by Pajaro Valley Unified School District as it plans for the coming academic year.
The PVUSD Board of Trustees...
County Supervisors declare local emergency
In a brief special meeting Friday, three Santa Cruz County Supervisors declared a local emergency, which will allow officials to request state and federal...
