County businesses prepare for another Covid-related closure; ICUs ready for surge
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...
Local nurses demand ‘safe’ patient ratios
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...
CDPH gives high school sports ‘blueprint’ to return to play
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 Hospital workers among first to receive Covid-19 vaccine
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...
Man, teen arrested for alleged 100mph drunken Hwy 1 race
CAPITOLA—Two people—one of them a 17-year-old girl—were arrested late Tuesday night after allegedly participating in a race on Highway 1 while drunk.
According to Courtney, CHP officers patrolling on Highway 1 stopped two vehicles that were racing at more than 100 miles per hour around...
New book chronicles the near-industrialization of Monterey Bay
He was only 6 years old, but Glenn Church vaguely remembers the construction of the power plant in Moss Landing, which was being built not far from where he grew up.
“I recall seeing those stacks go up… it was a big deal,” he said....
Bay Area region hits ICU capacity ‘trigger,’ more restrictions loom
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...
Woman dies in early morning fire at former Sobering Center
SANTA CRUZ—A woman died early Wednesday in a two-alarm fire that broke out in the former Sobering Center in Santa Cruz.
Around 2:30am 9-1-1 dispatchers received numerous calls about a fire spreading through the two-story Victorian wood structure that had been boarded up since the...
Power outage hits 63,000 county residents, quickly restored
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Approximately 63,000 people in Santa Cruz County lost power for about 30 minutes Tuesday afternoon due to a “transmission-level outage,” which refers to the system of high-tension wires that transmit power across the state, PG&E spokeswoman Karly Hernandez said.
It was not immediately...
Watsonville man sentenced to 104 years in prison for trafficking Gilroy woman
By Michael Moore, Morgan Hill Times Editor
A Watsonville man was sentenced to 104 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted of pimping, trafficking and abusing a Gilroy woman over several years, according to authorities.
Andre William Furtado, 33, was convicted by a jury in Santa...
New leadership, shared priorities: Investing in the future of public safety
As we begin a new year, I want to reflect on the direction of public safety in Watsonville and the leadership helping guide that...
