Guest Columnist

By Zach Friend, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Here are some updates on local road repairs and proposed projects for bike and pedestrian safety this year. Funding for these projects comes from Measure D (which brings in about $900,000/year to our district for local roads), SB...

In 2019, the average sales price for single-family homes was $1,117,353 and the median sales price was $1,000,000. This compares to 2018, where the average was $1,195,194 and the median was $1,008,000, so an ever-so-slight downtick in price in 2019. But, the volume was...

In December 2019, Congress passed the SECURE Act which is the first major change to retirement legislation since 2006 with the passage of the Pension Protection Act. The passage of the SECURE Act will affect retirement savers in a number of ways from changes...

Raising children is like riding a wild roller coaster with exhilarating highs, terrifying lows, and unexpected twists and turns. Some parents love the action-packed roller coaster and find joy and laughter even in the midst of tantrums and attitudes. Other parents close their eyes...

By John Hibble, Aptos History Museum The native people who lived here and gave Aptos its name, lived on the land and were stewards of it. They may have been territorial, but they did not have the concept of land ownership. The first owners of this...

Every winter, the people who live and work in the flats of Rio Dell Mar experience flooding in the streets and in their yards. Every winter, news reporters descend on the area to cover the events. This year, one reporter asked me about the...

Over the last few years the County has experienced significant flood events and damage that we are still working to repair. With climate change, severe events like these storm sets are expected to become more common as are the severity and length of droughts....

In July 2019, the state of California launched CalSavers, a program designed to allow employees access to a retirement savings plan administered by the state if their employer doesn’t currently offer their own retirement savings plan.  What is CalSavers? CalSavers is essentially a Roth IRA that...

Happy New Year! January is the eighth annual Positive Parenting Awareness Month in Santa Cruz County. Although parenting is a non-stop job that deserves recognition every day of the year, this month is an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a...

Happy New Year, Readers. It’s time to say ‘tis the Season. No, not that season—it’s TAX SEASON! Tax season involves long hours at the office with little to no time for anything other than work. But it also become a time of year where gratitude...