Guest Columnist

We mentioned in our January article that many people were likely to be surprised that come tax filing time the refund that they have come to expect every year in the spring has evaporated, or worse yet, they now owe money to the IRS!

Both Seacliff and the Rio Del Mar developments were severely impacted by the depression which started in 1929, the same year the Rio Del Mar Hotel opened.

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...

The 4th of July is America’s birthday and many communities have parades to celebrate that fact. The freedom to determine our own future was at the center of the founding of our country.

Join us for the 2019 Business Showcase on Wednesday, Feb. 20 from 4-7 p.m. at the Seascape Golf Club in Aptos.

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.

There is no question it is very difficult to afford housing in our county. One has to earn more than $70,000 to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment locally and our median home prices are hovering around $850,000.

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

For the first time in decades, significant upgrades and improvements are planned for libraries in our district. Let’s look at how we got here, what’s planned and how you can get involved in the process.

Age 70.5 is a milestone birthday in the United States. It’s also a birthday most people dread because Uncle Sam comes knocking, looking for you to pay taxes on retirement money that you’ve been diligently saving and deferring. If you are like most who reach this magical age, you probably factor in your anticipated required minimum distribution (“RMD”) that you must take from your various retirement accounts each year into your overall living expense needs. However, if you are one who truly doesn’t need the money to pay for everyday expenses, here are a couple of options for you to consider.