Spring began today and brief shower activity along with a dusting of snow in the mountains helped paint the picture. Tonight there is a 20 percent chance of showers before 8 p.m., the National Weather Service said. On Friday there is a 20 percent chance of showers after 11 a.m. Otherwise, it will be sunny, with a high near 60 degrees in Watsonville. Other than morning patchy fog, Saturday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 65. More rain is in the works for Sunday with a 40 percent chance of rain, mainly after 11 a.m.
•
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City, Utah, early Wednesday. On top of dealing with the coronavirus, people there said it rattled nerves and added to their stress. The quake was centered about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City and hit at 7:09 a.m. There were no major injuries reported and some buildings lost hunks of their structures. Electricity was also knocked out for tens of thousands of people.
•
Officials have agreed to temporarily close the U.S./Canada border to non-essential travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. While President Trump is being criticized for calling the disease the “China virus,” the World Health Organization pushed back on that label saying the disease “knows no borders.”
There’s good news from China: There are no new cases of coronavirus being reported.
•
Laundry Day, the new laundromat in Watsonville at 35 East Lake Ave., opened Tuesday. Since laundry is considered an essential business, owner Dai Truong said he was able to open his doors during the coronavirus outbreak. Situated in the former Union Bank (and Watsonville Federal Savings and Loan before that) at the corner of Brennan Street, the facility will feature 102 machines, a kid’s play area, ample folding tables, counter seating and several flat-screen televisions. Truong said that he wanted to “modernize the laundry experience” by providing complimentary Wifi, a TV lounge and “space to do your latest tech connections.” The 6,800-square-foot facility will feature self-service or drop-off laundry. Their hours are 6 a.m. – 10 p.m., seven days a week.
•
I walked around downtown Watsonville today and it was eerie. Fewer cars and fewer people were about. However, despite the shelter-in-place order from county officials, I did notice a group of about a dozen men sitting and talking on the benches in the plaza. I saw several people running errands, like a woman dropping off a vacuum cleaner at a shop on Main Street. At one point, I encounter 14 people strolling along the 400 block of Main Street, from families to seniors. I noticed several restaurants open, including Taylor Bros. Hot Dogs on East Beach Street.
•
Brent Adams, a highly-visible homeless services provider in Santa Cruz County, was stabbed Saturday night. Adams, who heads up the Warming Center Program Footbridge Services Center, said he was attacked near his office at 150 Felker St. He reported that he was trying to calm a man down who was hollering inside a portable toilet when the man charged him and stabbed him in the stomach. A citizen came to the rescue and called 911. No suspect was located by police, Santa Cruz Police spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke said. Adams was treated at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
