COVID-19

PAJARO—Joining a worldwide effort to stave off the spread of COVID-19, Sister Rosa Dolores and a team of six volunteers have started a production line of masks at Casa de la Cultura in Pajaro. The group has made more than 100 masks and is working...

PAJARO—A mass vaccination clinic in Pajaro aimed at North Monterey County residents struggling to find the vaccine will go on as planned Friday, thanks to quick work from Dignity Health-Dominican Hospital and organizer Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance (PVPSA). PVPSA CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez says...

SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that the state will provide temporary tax relief for eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Under the plan, taxpayers filing less than $1 million in sales tax receive an automatic three-month income tax extension. It also...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division announced Thursday that it has awarded $619,900 in health equity grants to 20 organizations to help address disparities among populations impacted by Covid-19. The funds come from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville police on Thursday arrested a man for allegedly burglarizing a business that is making hand sanitizer for the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. Dustin Dean Davis, 47, was charged with burglary, looting during a state of emergency and violating the county’s shelter-in-place order. He also faces...

WATSONVILLE—A group of students at MacQuiddy Elementary School got a special holiday treat last week.  Thanks to the efforts of instructor Amy McGee and others, 15 kids—all members of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Safe Spots program—were handed an armload of gifts Friday, including a...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A group of Santa Cruz residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court to stop the Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz County (HRC) from continuing its syringe services program. Launched in 2018, the nonprofit HRC—and “harm reduction” programs in general—operate...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County now has several Covid-19 Test to Treat sites available to the community, including the three OptumServe testing sites, which are available to anyone regardless of insurance or documentation status. Test to Treat sites allow individuals to get tested, be...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—New Leaf Community Market closed its new Aptos location on Saturday for a one-day deep cleaning after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19. Store officials said that the closure was voluntary. “While healthy authorities have not required us to close the store, we...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—On Wednesday Second Harvest Food Bank will host its weekly community drive-thru food distribution at the County Fairgrounds 2601 East Lake Ave., from 9am–1pm. “This is a departure from our normal Friday distribution so that individuals and families in our community have access...