THE HERE & NOW: Beloved comedian and writer Fred Reiss has beaten back cancer five times, but he knows the real enemy is not illness or death, but despair. “You gotta let go of this idea that you don’t deserve this,” he says.
Pandemic Life
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Get inspired by these ‘people in the pandemic’ by signing up for our free Lookout event this evening
Between medicine, religion, education, wellness and comedy, we’re anticipating a lively discussion about the challenges of pandemic life in which you’ll be able to ask questions via Zoom chat. Additionally, we’ll have the latest update on the status of COVID-19 locally.
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Yale student learning from Watsonville home reflects on inequities as parents work in fields
New Leaf Community Markets brand manager Lindsay Gizdich said the store is moving from Pacific Avenue in order to have…
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‘Absolutely essential, especially now’: Year-round farmers’ markets a steadying force
Santa Cruz County’s winter farmers’ markets provide ‘arguably a safer shopping environment,’ one proprietor says. But they also tie together a healthy community of like-minded people who strongly believe in their essential-ness amid the pandemic.
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‘It’s changed who I am’: The life of a Santa Cruz County nurse in the pandemic
The pandemic has taken a toll on Dominican Hospital ER nurse Kirsten Palmquist and her family. Long days. Endless streams of patients. Surges on top of surges. But she is steadfast in her commitment to her calling.
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COVID-19, A Love Story: One couple fought the pandemic together — until ‘Pop’ lost the battle
Gene and Doris Johnson were doing well in assisted living before the coronavirus changed everything about how the 94-year-old couple could connect to their loved ones. At least they still had each other — until Gene, a well-known teacher and coach, died last week.
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He escaped the Holocaust but not COVID-19: ‘There were things he still wanted to do,’ says his son
In his youth, Germany native David Orzech escaped the specter of death multiple times, including the grip of Nazism. But at age 91, mourning the recent loss of his wife, he met his match with COVID-19.
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‘A closure I’m missing’: One man’s anger toward COVID-19 after it took his dad, keeps him from family
COVID-19 not only took the life of Gus Ceballos’s father, Jorge — who raised his family in Beach Flats while working the mushroom fields of Pescadero — it left him in an agonizing limbo, unable to grieve.
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Have ink, will travel: Why one Santa Cruz tattoo artist hit the road to keep herself afloat
Facing insolvency, Kelly McMurray of Good Luck Tattoo packed up a travel trailer and went to other states to practice her craft. Now, once again shut down, she’s planning to hit the road again.
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Santiago Tehandon, 80, retired Watsonville maintenance technician, food bank volunteer dies of COVID-19
In March 2020, Tehandon was named “Hunger Fighter of the Year” by the U.S. House of Representatives, and was honored by the city of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in response. He died of COVID-19 related complications on Christmas Day.