Guest Columnist

Holidays can be a mixed bag full of love, laughter, joy, stress, anxiety, and full-blown tantrums. And I’m just talking about the adults. Expectations about gifts, traditions and spending time together can make the holidays challenging and overwhelming for many families, even when relationships are harmonious. When relationships between immediate, extended, separated, or blended family members are strained, it requires extra effort to communicate effectively so that children remember the holidays as a special time with family and loved ones. This monthly column provides tips for anyone who is helping raise children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a question or idea for a future column, please email me at [email protected].

A community is defined by the people who take a leadership role. In the 20th century, Paul Johnston was constantly involved in the development of Aptos Village for more than 100 years.

Spring is in the air and inventory is picking up. Since Jan. 1, 203 homes have come on the market across the county and 41 homes have been listed in Aptos. The highest new listing is 383 Beach Drive at $5,200,000. The lowest new listing is 1260 Trout Gulch Road at $599,000. The market snapshot as of March 9 shows 39 Active Listings in Aptos (34 SFR, 3 TH, 2 Condo).

As I begin each new year as your County Supervisor, I like to report back in this column on some of the things we’ve accomplished because of your partnership and communication of priorities. Here is a very small overview of what we accomplished in 2017: Community Meetings: In 2017, we’ve held 71 open office hours in Aptos, Corralitos, La Selva Beach and Watsonville and held or attended nearly 50 community and neighborhood meetings in Seacliff, La Selva Beach, Aptos, Watsonville, Capitola and Corralitos. In addition, I’ve written over 50 columns in local papers and neighborhood newsletters and sent a number of e-newsletters to communicate with our district about county happenings.

I recently read that “According to a [2007] report by the A.C. Nielsen Company, parents spend only 39 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children.”

The second you realize this article is housing-related, like most people your first comment has to be "housing prices are crazy" followed by "I hear people in San Jose are paying over a million for a small two-bedroom home" followed again by "Housing pric

It’s that time of year again for our annual article on end of year financial tasks to complete. It’s hard to believe that 2018 is already drawing to a close as it just seems like yesterday we were celebrating New Years! In between festivities, take a few minutes to knock off a couple financial “to-do’s.”

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.

Last month we wrote about a couple of year-end money moves to make. Now that we’ve rung in the New Year, below are a couple of areas to look to fine-tune your financial life for 2018.

Before Rancho Del Mar and Safeway came to Aptos, that property was used for growing sugar beets and cauliflower. State Park Drive was lined on both sides with huge cypress trees. Highway 1 was a four-lane highway with no overpass or on-and-off ramps. Aptos was a small town but was getting ready for a growth spurt and the Cabrillo College Aptos campus was just being planned.