COVID-19

CALIFORNIA — Facing swelling political pressure and numerous lawsuits by businesses forced to shut down, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Monday lifted a strict stay-at-home order and handed to local authorities greater control over whether restaurants, hair salons and other commerce could reopen. The...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Frontline Workers Counseling Project (FWCP), a San Francisco-based nonprofit that pairs frontline and essential workers with private-practice therapists for pro bono counseling services, is expanding its service area to Monterey County. FWCP, formerly called the Covid-19 Pro Bono Counseling Project, was created...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo submitted a pandemic economic recovery ordinance for the county on Feb. 3, aimed at recalling laid-off county hospitality, restaurant and travel workers when the economy re-opens.  The ordinance would request those recalls based on greatest length of...

SALINAS VALLEY — Free pop-up Covid-19 testing sites have been emerging lately in South Monterey County as part of an effort to increase testing access after a new site was added to Castroville to the existing lineup of Salinas and Seaside. When available, local residents...

California is opening up eligibility for booster coronavirus vaccine shots to include anyone 18 or older, making it at least the second state to expand official eligibility beyond older adults and people in high-risk circumstances. Colorado took a similar step this week. California’s vaccination sites...

GONZALES — Gonzales City Council recently heard an update on schools from Gonzales Unified School District Superintendent Yvette Irving. Among the information presented at the April 5 meeting was that fewer high school seniors were facing risk of not graduating, and that the creation of...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Federal, state and county agencies, including Cal Coastal, continue to offer assistance to local businesses, with two new programs having recently begun to help them bounce back from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cindy Merzon, director of Cal Coastal’s Small Business...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County’s Covid-19 vaccination plan is not going quickly at all, and if things remain as they are with low weekly shipments, it could take until September 2023 to vaccinate 80% of adults in the county.  Such trickle availability has caused the...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno has announced that cases of Covid-19 continue to rise both statewide and in Monterey County, with the Delta variant of the virus now accounting for a large majority of the infections. “What we’re seeing here...

KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fairgrounds remains in a modified state of operation as Covid-19 pandemic health guidelines continue to restrict the types of activities that can be carried out in public settings.  The upcoming in-person Livestock Grading Show and Online Auction are being planned...