Kids did not spread coronavirus in Excel In Place program, officials say
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...
Rainy weather produces several crashes over wet weekend
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As winter returned along with its company of wet weather, so did higher numbers of crashes across slickened roadways in Santa Cruz County.
There were 44 crashes Saturday and Sunday around the county as on-and-off-again rain came through, said California Highway Patrol officer...
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...
Order restored in Mexico, president says
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that order had been restored after a federal operation killed Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” the longtime...
