Guest Columnist

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

What does it take to be a hero? Every day, people make our town a better place to live.

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, email me at [email protected].

By Zach Friend, Santa Cruz County Supervisor As the world economy has plunged toward recession the local economy, and County budget, are facing the same retraction. With the tourism industry, one of the largest employers and tax elements (directly through hotel taxes and indirectly through...

Name a brick for your family and become a permanent part of Aptos Village.

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.”

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? 

The Aptos Chamber was more like a small-town improvement association. The initial name was the Aptos Community Club. The first item of business was to get a fire engine for the town and to obtain all night telephone service. The next item of work was to celebrate the opening of the new bridge into town which replaced an old wooden bridge with a suicide curve in the middle. The chamber planned the ceremony and a big parade.

Over the last four years the Board of Supervisors has been working on policies around the dispensing and cultivation of medical cannabis. While work around cannabis in general will be evolving for quite some time, the Board is poised to adopt a commercial cultivation ordinance in early May. Creating a framework for medicinal sales (through local dispensaries) was the first thing addressed by the ordinance a few years ago. While there have been updates to that ordinance, overall the framework for medicinal sales has been established. Creating a framework for commercial cultivation — both on the medicinal side and now, through state law change, the recreational side, has proved more difficult.

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.