Guest Columnist

By John Hibble, of the Aptos History Museum One of the many gems that make Aptos different than anywhere else is Redwood Village, hidden in a redwood grove across Highway One from Deer Park Shopping Center. Today it is a small commercial center but...

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...

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...

Sept. 15 marked 10 years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Financial Crisis of 2008 wiped out about 8.8 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and caused about $19 trillion in household wealth to evaporate. While the recession officially started in December 2007, we wanted to review a timeline of some key events and also look forward to the future.

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend holds his son Elliott while speaking at the Aptos Chamber of Commerce's monthly breakfast meeting on Jan. 11. Friend touched on topics such as transportation, traffic and housing, mentioning that residents have to earn $70,000 a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Cruz County. He encouraged residents to get involved and "choose the type of community you want," rather than pass on responsibility to future generations. "You may feel like, individually, you cannot make a significant difference on the way the community's trajectory will go," Friend said. "But I also know that if each one of us even did something small, the sum of all of those things will be more change than any of us would ever have been able to envision." Friend was also recently appointed chair of the Board of Supervisors. Photo by Jeanie Johnson

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? 

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.

Over the last year, in response to significant declines in transportation funding, the state legislature proposed a number of bills to stabilize funding. Ultimately, in April, the state passed Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act. The bill focused on providing a steady stream of transportation funding to address the backlog of state and local transportation projects. The legislation combined new diesel and gasoline taxes with vehicle fees and Caltrans efficiencies to fund local and state roadway repairs (including storm damage local matches), public transportation, congested corridors, bike and pedestrian improvements and more. The bill also allows for cities and counties with their own local tax measure (such as our recently passed Measure D) to apply for additional funds.

The holiday season has come and gone and many are left with the familiar feeling of regret after months of lack of exercise and overeating. They feel tired, sluggish, and yes, out of shape and over-weight ... again. This is what we call the "Holiday Weight Cycle." The problem is that fad diets and extreme exercise routines are often a “go-to” for most people; sometimes they work, but usually they don’t. For most these extreme measures are not sustainable and lead only to frustration or failure. For example, when one "starves" themselves or abruptly starts a daily, high-intensity exercise regimen it often leaves them feeling defeated and they quit; hence the "cycle" continues. The problem isn’t that people don’t have enough will-power, it's the "System" itself. As a society we tend to set unrealistic expectations which pressures individuals to give into unhealthy behaviors such as this "Holiday Weight-Cycle." Will 2018 be your year for change? Or will this cycle leave you one year farther from your goal to be healthy and fit again?

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.