Coronavirus

SCOTTS VALLEY—After declaring a fiscal emergency in January and facing unanticipated difficulties due to the pandemic, City of Scotts Valley officials made several budgetary decisions seeking momentary relief. They implemented a hiring freeze, reduced supplies and services and trimmed community services funding, among other...

On Oct. 27 Santa Cruz County entered the Orange Tier of the state’s Covid-19 reopening plan. The lowered rate of positive tests has enabled many more businesses to open with precautions, such as indoor waxing and bookstores, and increased capacity at restaurants, movie theaters...

In alignment with the state, 11 Bay Area counties, including Santa Cruz County, and the City of Berkeley will lift universal mask requirements for most indoor public settings on Feb. 16. Unvaccinated individuals over the age of 2 will continue to be required to wear...

Frightened of a blank calendar this Halloween? Never fear. There are many fun and Covid-19-safe opportunities this year.  According to a 1,000-parent survey conducted by See’s Candies, a little over 50 percent of families plan to stay in this Halloween, with a movie. However, for...

This year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Toys For Tots will not be hosting public collection sites for toy donations for the first time in its history. Normally, the collection points at fire stations and businesses throughout the county are responsible for the lion’s share...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—California health officials on Tuesday moved Santa Cruz County into the less restrictive “Moderate” or Orange tier, meaning that several businesses can reopen and welcome in more customers. The move means that the county is seeing 1-3.9 new cases per 100,00 in population....

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...

By Jacob Pierce, Good Times 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 wherein...

The Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce put on a Holiday Passport Event on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28. More than 100 families traveled throughout commercial Scotts Valley to 36 local businesses in a safe and spirited fashion. At each business, households received a stamp, children...

The evening sun shone golden on a jovial outdoor gathering at Kings Village Shopping Center on June 24, as the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce declared the city open for business. The symbolic gesture, representing progress made by the U.S. government in rolling vaccines out...