COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A Santa Cruz METRO employee has tested positive for Covid-19. The information surfaced in local media Friday and marks the first positive case in METRO’s staff of around 300 people. “Out of respect for the employee's privacy, we are not disclosing anything other than...

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...

Fox Factory, Inc. has temporarily laid off 85 employees from its Watsonville facility on Hangar Way and another 159 employees from its headquarters in Scotts Valley, state filings show. The reductions came weeks before its parent company Fox Factory Holding Corp, which designs and manufactures...

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...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—New Leaf Community Market has closed its Aptos location after seven employees tested positive for COVID-19. The company made the announcement on its website  on Tuesday, saying the store will stay closed “until further notice.”  The announcement came four days after the store closed...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—All California adults age 50 and older will be eligible for a vaccine starting April 1, and everyone age 16 and older will be eligible starting April 15, the state announced Thursday. The shift in eligibility comes as the state expects the supply...

SANTA CRUZ—Saying that “people were not willing to be governed anymore,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Thursday said the county’s daily beach restrictions will be removed starting Friday. Save for water sports, county beaches have been off-limits between 11am-5pm since late April....

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—More than one million people have so far received a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  These “frontline” workers in tier 1a of the state’s protocol include health care workers, first responders and other people who interact directly with patients.  In...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District is asking residents to help honor the district’s 1,179 graduates by turning on their outdoor lights and decorating their yards between May 25-29. The “Lights On Grads” and Yard/Door Decoration Event is a way to give graduating seniors a...

The Santa Cruz Warriors will get the opportunity to play some basketball this year.  The NBA’s development league announced the 2020-21 season will start as soon as February. But they’ll be doing so nearly 3,000 miles away from the Santa Cruz team’s normal home of...