COVID-19

WATSONVILLE—At their core, Veterans of Foreign Wars halls and American Legion centers are places where former military members can gather to find camaraderie and a shared bond unique to their life experiences. “It’s a big part of what they consider their mental health treatment,” said...

WATSONVILLE—A group of students at MacQuiddy Elementary School got a special holiday treat last week.  Thanks to the efforts of instructor Amy McGee and others, 15 kids—all members of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Safe Spots program—were handed an armload of gifts Friday, including a...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—On Wednesday Second Harvest Food Bank will host its weekly community drive-thru food distribution at the County Fairgrounds 2601 East Lake Ave., from 9am–1pm. “This is a departure from our normal Friday distribution so that individuals and families in our community have access...

WATSONVILLE—A pair of positive Covid-19 tests has shut down the Excel In Place program at the Environmental Science Workshop in Watsonville through its Dec. 18 end date. Watsonville Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib said two employees at that location on Second Street recently...

By Jacob Pierce, Good Times News Editor Businesses all over Santa Cruz County are getting ready to close down or reduce their operations, as a new stay-at-home order takes effect. The order goes live at 11:59pm Thursday, now that the Bay Area region hit a threshold...

WATSONVILLE—A group of about 30 nurses at Watsonville Community Hospital held a demonstration Wednesday asking that management keep nurse-to-patient ratios at their present level. The demonstration came five days after the California Department of Public Health sent a memo to the state’s general acute care...

By Emanuel Lee, Hollister Free Lance Sports Editor Calling it the “document we’ve been waiting for,” Central Coast Section Commissioner Dave Grissom said the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) recent release in regards to youth sports gives him and the other 10 section commissioners...

WATSONVILLE—Working as an Environmental Services Aide at Watsonville Community Hospital, Benjamin Lamsen cleans rooms in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. That work has been challenging, he says, since the Covid-19 pandemic began its spread across the globe. In addition to increased...

Growing strain on the health care system has triggered a stricter stay-at-home order for Santa Cruz County and the rest of the Bay Area region identified in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently issued regional order. Intensive care unit (ICU) capacity in the Bay Area region, which...

CENTRAL COAST—Most counties throughout California have now imposed some version of stay-at-home orders, which consist of a series of requests and requirements by local leaders and are designed to slow the spread of Covid-19. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Dec. 3 said that new orders keeping...