COVID-19

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District has extended its free bagged breakfast and lunch program through the rest of the fall semester. Young people up to the age of 18 can pick up the meals at 15 PVUSD schools from 7-10am every weekday. On Fridays,...

WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville on Sept. 26 will be hosting a Drive-Thru Ice Cream Social for older adults in front of the Watsonville Senior Center. The event will run from noon-3pm at 114 E. 5th St.  RSVP by calling the Older Adults Services Supervisor Katie Nuñez...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division announced Wednesday morning the eighth death of a resident due to Covid-19. The resident, who died in their home, was a Hispanic male in his early 40s who lived in South County. While the individual had...

WATSONVILLE—Keeping area streets and sidewalks tidy has become more of a chore since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.  An uptick in disposable rubber gloves and all types of masks dumped on the streets has been commonplace since early March. And they’re building up. These items,...

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...

WATSONVILLE—The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet been as harsh on Watsonville’s economy as predicted, but Finance Department Director Cindy Czerwin at Tuesday’s City Council meeting said it is still too early to “feel totally confident” about the City’s financial future. The City’s sales tax revenues...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville renters struggling to keep up with their monthly payments because of the Covid-19 pandemic could soon receive some relief. The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday meeting approved the use of $100,000 from its general fund to establish an Emergency Rental Assistance Program for...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County on Tuesday moved into a less restrictive tier of the state’s new Covid-19 reopening plan, allowing some businesses to reopen their indoor services with capacity limits and other modifications. Personal care services such as waxing, nails and massage therapy, restaurants, places...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The County of Santa Cruz has announced the availability of Covid-19 relief funds for local small businesses and nonprofits responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Available through the Santa Cruz County Cares Recovery Program, applications are now being accepted through Sept. 15 for...

SACRAMENTO—A contract with a San Jose diagnostics company will allow the state to increase its Covid-19 testing capacity up to an additional 150,000, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Aug. 24. Under the deal with Perkin Elmer, the state will be able to process up to an...