Guest Columnist

Seacliff Beach is unique because it has a fishing pier that extends out to a 100 year old concrete ship.

The word "whisky" comes from Scottish and Irish Gaelic, "uisge beatha," or "usquebaugh," meaning "water of life." Many other countries give the same name to their distilled spirits including "eau de vie" in France, "acquavite" in Italy, and "akvavit" in Scandinavia. Why would anyone want to take away something as essential as the "water of life"?

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

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].

According to reports from the Huffington Post, the number one New Year's Resolution is to lose weight. That's not surprising as they also report that about one in every three adults in this country is obese.

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.

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 2016, total volume for Santa Cruz County (SCC) was $15.6B on 1,754 home sales, 200 townhome sales and 285 condo sales. The Median Home sales price was $785K. In 2017 (through Dec. 15), total SCC volume is $16.5B on 1,756 homes sales, 193 townhome sales and 277 condo sales. The Median Home sales price is now at $840K, a 7 percent increase year over year. So, number of sales is flat but sales revenues are up $1 billion in our county.

While the county works to reduce emissions and keep climate change from getting worse, the Climate Action Strategy presents a set of strategies to address the county’s vulnerabilities to climate change that will occur. The strategies include a broad range

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...