Guest Columnist

I recently listened to Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming. I was fascinated by her life and the depth of skills and experience she had before becoming the First Lady.

2018 sales volume is flat compared to 2017. 1,668 homes sold in Santa Cruz County at an Average Price of $833,869. In Aptos, 263 homes sold at an Average Price of $1,199,047 and Median Price of $1,003,000; much higher than the county but same as 2017.

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.

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"?

As you recall from last month’s story, Ralph Mattison owned a number of businesses in Aptos Village and he helped to organize the Aptos Volunteer Fire Department and build the first fire truck.

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

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...

The average refund received was just shy of $3,000 for the 2015 tax year. While it may be tempting to go out and splurge with that money, think about some alternative ways to put your refund dollars to work.

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.

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