Guest Columnist

During the last week of January communities around the country conducted a federally-mandated point-in-time (PIT) count of their homeless populations.

A wonderful new event has surfaced in our Aptos community thanks to Friends of the Library and Denise Ward, a local resident who also loves to read and to bring community together.

My parents are ready to buy a home, but my mother wants to buy the land and build their home. Are there programs that can help buy her land to build her home? Is there a possibility for a first time home buyer to buy land to build or is it easier just to buy a home that is already built? 

Where did the word "museum" come from? The word is from ancient Greece and describes a building or temple dedicated to the Muses. OK, who were the Muses? In mythology, they were the daughters of Zeus, the king of the many gods and goddesses, and Mnemosyne (nee-moss-ih-nee), the goddess of memory. The nine Muses were goddesses of the literary arts, music, visual arts, culture and science. The Muse, Clio, was the goddess of history. The Muses spark creativity in mortal people. Museums collect, preserve, interpret and display items of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance for the education of the public and for future generations. Above all, museums are storehouses of knowledge.

As we head into the rainy season it’s always good to do some advance preparations for your home or business. The county is still making repairs to storm damage that occurred just two years ago, which caused more than $129 million in damage to public roads and facilities in the unincorporated county.

The first owners of Aptos were the King and Queen of Spain. The Catholic Church and the Army administered their holdings.

When I was a young child, the only TV shows my parents let us watch were Sesame Street, Mister Rogers, or anything else on PBS. Occasionally, we watched The Brady Bunch, until my mom declared the show off limits.

Sign your business up today to be a part of our 34th annual Business Showcase, to be held at Seascape Beach Resort on Feb. 20. This Showcase is a great way for businesses and community groups to network with each other and with our residents. This is the original business showcase in Santa Cruz County. Call the Aptos Chamber today at 688-1467 to find out more information, mark your calendars for Feb. 20, and be a part of this great community event.

As you may well have heard, at the end of 2017 Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. While corporations might be celebrating the cut of the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, many might be wondering how the new tax law affects them personally.

Most people probably have a sense of what their credit score is and if their score is considered a “poor” score all the way to “exceptional.” Banks and credit cards will show you your credit score often updated on a monthly basis.