COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel said she will revise her shelter-in-place order later this week, after Gov. Gavin Newsom releases information about slightly loosening statewide restrictions. Newsom is expected to launch Stage 2 of his “Reopening Roadmap,” which will allow retail...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s budget has improved somewhat since the summer, when grim projections showed the district possibly unable to meet expenses for the next three years. The district’s Board of Trustees heard the news in a budget update on Wednesday. That situation, known as...

WATSONVILLE—The California Arts Council (CAC) recently announced the allocation of a record-breaking $30 million—the largest investment in the council’s 40-plus year history. A total of 1,534 grants have been awarded to nonprofit organizations and government programs across the state in support of the arts. Watsonville...

Kaiser Permanente is opening a Covid-19 vaccination hub Thursday at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz for eligible members and others in the community, the health care provider announced in a press release Wednesday. Dependent upon vaccine supply, the site is expected to operate seven...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District is closing its schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 year, Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez announced Wednesday.  “Being a healthy community is key to thriving in it,” Rodriguez said. “Having students in the classroom is ideal and we miss seeing their...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The economic restrictions imposed on various Santa Cruz County businesses are not expected to be loosened this week, according to Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency spokeswoman Corinne Hyland. That’s despite the fact that the county will have spent its 14th day off...

WATSONVILLE—Graduation for Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 1,179 seniors this year will look drastically different than it has at any time in its history. That is because the school closures imposed April 1 by state education officials have required students to learn from home for...

Cooler temperatures continue to run the show, both along the coast and inland. Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said it will be, “quite a bit windier in the next few days and drier as well.” He added that...

WATSONVILLE—Fruition Brewing owner David Purgason was making deliveries on Calabasas Road when he suddenly had an idea. As he drove by Whiskey Hill Farms, he remembered it was the site of Blume Distillation, a biofuel technology company that converts waste into alcohol-based fuel and other...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Covid-19 pandemic has had a disparate impact on communities nationwide, with Latinx and Black communities experiencing greater impacts than white ones. That is according to a report heard Tuesday by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. The report, presented by Health Services...