COMMUNITY NEWS
Celebrating Thirty Years of Service C ongratulations to Firefighter Steve Vratny, who was presented with his 30-year service pin by Fire Chief Aaron Lowe at the Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District Board of Directors meeting on July 9. The fire district posted the following on Facebook: Steve is incredibly dedicated to his calling, going above and beyond in serving both his community and the surrounding areas. Most recently, he spearheaded the Healthcare Heroes event, a multi-agency
Most recently, [Firefighter Steve Vratny] spearheaded the Healthcare Heroes event, a multi-agency effort to give thanks to healthcare workers across the county.
effort to give thanks to healthcare workers across the county. He also coordinated the 911 Memorial Stair Climb Event at Seacliff State Beach, which raised funds for families of fallen firefighters.
Aptos La Selva firefighter Steve Vratny (right) with Chief Aaron Lowe.
“Gathering” from page 15 “Our children deserve some normal childhood development,” she said, noting her view assumes no major COVID development. “I hope districts will work with me to develop a hybrid model.” Santa Cruz County has 13 school districts, each one determining their own calendar, traditions and programs, plus the county Office of Education, which operates many alternative schools and provides education to children with special needs. Newel said her only sway is that she can approve or disapprove medically fragile children from classroom learning. Responding to a question, Newel said if someone at a school is diagnosed as
positive, the school must be able to isolate that individual and then quarantine others that may have been exposed. Friend noted that neither Finland nor Denmark had cluster outbreaks after reopening schools. Asked if it would be OK for a group of 60 seniors to meet for lunch, Newel said a seniors’ lunch would not be safe “until we have a vaccine.” Asked when a vaccine might be available, Newel said it may be as early as a year but not sooner. She said three vaccines are in Phase 3 clinical trials to assess their effectiveness on human volunteers. n ••• More info is at https://www.coronavirus preventionnetwork.org
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / July 15th 2020 / 17
