COVID-19

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Massage therapy, nail salons, tattoo parlors and other personal services can reopen in Santa Cruz County on Friday, the county announced Monday. The county said those businesses should follow state guidance released by the California Department of Public Health June 12 which requires...

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously voted to delay a decision on how to resume classes in August, to give district officials time to investigate all of their options. Still undetermined is which risk level the district will use...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel on Tuesday revised her shelter-in-place order to align most of the county’s restrictions with that of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. The new county order will open places of worship, in-store retail, outdoor museums and limited...

Since 1961, the World’s Shortest Parade has packed Soquel Drive in Aptos with floats, decorated cars, bands and other community displays of patriotism in celebration of Independence Day. That will not be the case this year. With the novel coronavirus still spreading and stay-at-home orders in...

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday is expected to announce the closure of all beaches and state parks starting Friday, multiple national news agencies reported late Wednesday night. The news comes days after Gov. Newsom expressed concern over numerous photos of people crowding beaches throughout the...

WATSONVILLE—Graduation for Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 1,179 seniors this year will look drastically different than it has at any time in its history. That is because the school closures imposed April 1 by state education officials have required students to learn from home for...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Deep cleaning is now routine at Santa Cruz METRO to not only keep their fleet on the road, but to assure riders that busses are squeaky clean. Every day since early March, before the first person in Santa Cruz County was diagnosed with...

WATSONVILLE—Every year on the outskirts of Watsonville, late summer brings the intoxicating aroma of fried food, along with the sweet summer cacophony of carnival rides, livestock and giant, jubilant crowds. But those voices will fall silent this year at the Santa Cruz County Fair, after...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—A group of local transportation organizers is hoping that, within the span of a decade, a passenger rail will run from Watsonville to Santa Cruz, making stops at hubs where busses will whisk passengers to further destinations.  For commuters who wish to eschew...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County on Wednesday announced that a man in his 60s died from Covid-19 on Aug. 15. County spokesman Jason Hoppin said that the man was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions. The death was the 210th in Santa Cruz County attributable to...