78.6 F
Aptos
August 1, 2026

The 100 year old Concrete Ship of Seacliff Beach

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

Ask Nicole: Giving thanks

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 triplep@first5scc.org.

A most amazing man, and rich, too: Claus Spreckels | by John Hibble

The first owners of Aptos were the King and Queen of Spain. The Catholic Church and the Army administered their holdings.

Rethinking retirement

croxall financial help
By Soren & Gary E. Croxall The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout has forced many people to rethink their retirement strategy. Whether you are mid-career and retirement is still a distance out, retirement is fast approaching, or you are a recent retiree wondering...

Key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

As you may well have heard, at the end of 2017 Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. While corporations might be celebrating the cut of the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, many might be wondering how the new tax law affects them personally.

Paying taxes: A matter of perspective

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...

Paul Johnston, the man who did everything: Part 2

Aptos Village once had a Town Hall on the corner of Valencia Street and Trout Gulch Road, but it had been torn down.

Qualifying for a housing loan

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

The water of life, part two

There are a lot of colorful names to describe suppliers of illegal booze: Rum runners (self-explanatory), moonshiners, bootleggers. What is a bootlegger? In the late 1800s, it was illegal to give Native American Indians whiskey, so traders would conceal flasks of liquor in their boot tops. Previously, we learned how prohibition helped to fund organized crime, and how otherwise law-abiding people developed a thirst for "medicinal" Scotch whiskey. But, Scotch alone does not make a well stocked bar, and not all alcohol was smuggled into the county. Gin was actually the most common liquor consumed during prohibition and much of it was produced locally.

What is the price of knowledge?

Where did the word "museum" come from? The word is from ancient Greece and describes a building or temple dedicated to the Muses. OK, who were the Muses? In mythology, they were the daughters of Zeus, the king of the many gods and goddesses, and Mnemosyne (nee-moss-ih-nee), the goddess of memory. The nine Muses were goddesses of the literary arts, music, visual arts, culture and science. The Muse, Clio, was the goddess of history. The Muses spark creativity in mortal people. Museums collect, preserve, interpret and display items of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance for the education of the public and for future generations. Above all, museums are storehouses of knowledge.