COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County on Monday identified 22 new Covid-19 cases, breaking its previous single-day record (21) set just a week ago. There are now 129 active cases in the county and there have been 379 cases overall. Of those residents that have contracted...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz METRO has increased its passenger capacity by 50% in an effort to accommodate more riders, but that decision has raised concerns within the union representing the bus operators still working during the Covid-19 pandemic. METRO CEO Alex Clifford announced on June...

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—The Santa Cruz Warriors’ season ended more than seven months ago—it was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic—but the NBA G League franchise has found different ways to score points in the Santa Cruz County. Team mascot Mav’Riks on Oct. 12 dropped off a...

APTOS—Two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around, Twin Lakes Church Pastor Rene Schlaepfer and Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) CEO Willy Elliott McCrea were worried. The church’s annual food drive, which typically raises thousands of dollars for the food bank’s holiday, was falling short,...

A drive-thru pizza giveaway will be held at 7-Eleven, 1461 Main St., Watsonville, on Christmas Eve at 11am. At least 500 full sized, uncooked pepperoni pizzas will be ordered for the drive-thru, plus another 60 for employees and about 140 for customers at other 7-Elevens.  The...

CENTRAL COAST—The Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas (CSVS) is now hosting a pop-up Covid-19 testing site every Saturday at Las Lomas Market, bringing a much-needed resource to the small rural community in the northern reaches of Monterey County. The pop-up site is one...

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...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to join a state-run rent relief program, which makes more than $16 million in federal funds available to local renters unable to pay their rent and utilities due to...

WATSONVILLE—The mass vaccination site in downtown Watsonville for most of March will solely administer second doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, slowing a distribution chain that has at times moved at a sporadic pace because of limited supply and changing state guidance. Since opening on Feb....