With COVID-19 cases rising in Santa Cruz County, as they are statewide and nationally, the county’s top health officials joined neighboring counties in asking residents to return to wearing masks in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status.
Recovery & Reopening
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Charting which Santa Cruz County businesses received Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants — and for how much
More than 100 businesses received funds from the Small Business Administration with an average of $309,423 awarded to Santa Cruz County businesses.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Pair of Scotts Valley businesses partner to bring coffee, community together at Cruise Coffee Cafe
The owners of Cruise Coffee Company and Hot Pink Dessert Co. have opened the new cafe inside the Cavallaro Transit Center.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
California’s decision to require masks at school: A cautious decision that treats all students the same
The masking decision will allow all students, vaccinated or unvaccinated, to be treated the same at school, officials said.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Get your summer reads on: Santa Cruz libraries expanding hours
Beginning Saturday, the downtown, Live Oak, Capitola, Scotts Valley, Felton and La Selva Beach branches will all have extended hours as county facilities continue their post-pandemic reopening.
Posted inUncategorized
‘Circus’ act: Capitola’s baker/composer returns to Cabrillo Stage with his latest pop opera
Local playwright/composer Joe Ortiz highlights Cabrillo Stage’s new summer season with his latest musical, “Circus: Knives, Blood & Water.” Longtime collaborator Greg Fritsch says, “It’s about the terrible cost of secrets and lies, and the power of truth and forgiveness.”
Posted inBusiness & Technology
California may move to regulate booming debt settlement industry
A bill aims to create new rules for California’s mostly unregulated debt settlement industry. AB 1405, expected to pass through Senate committees, comes at a time when the industry expects to see a 75% increase in account enrollment.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Wealth, class and remote work reshape California’s new boomtowns as people flee big cities
The surge of migration eastward fits a pattern of families escaping densely populated cities, a trend that dates back to the mid-20th century.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
What the Delta variant means for unvaccinated kids
With kids under 12 still ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, how worried should parents be about the Delta variant? “Despite all the talk about the light at the end of the tunnel, the virus is not gone by any means, and we have to be able to respond,” one epidemiologist says.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Pour me another: Mezcalito Manny talks bartending in COVID and beyond
As for many who mix drinks for a living, the pandemic was a sad, scary time for Santa Cruz County bartender Emmanuel Hernandez. His “Mezcalito Mixers” side hustle helped, but there’s nothing like creating cocktails and interacting with patrons from behind a bar — and he’s thrilled to be back at.