Principal Shannon Calden is excited that her students at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School will get the opportunity to become student tech leaders in the inaugural Google GenerationYES Program.

Four former hotel properties along Hwy. 9, including the “Toll House” property and the former “Wagon Wheel” motel in Felton, have applied for inclusion in a newly proposed “Permanent Room Housing Combining Zone District” under consideration by the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission.

At the last Scotts Valley City Council meeting on Jan. 23, council members discussed at length one of their most important goals for the new year — engaging and informing the community about the city’s dire fiscal outlook, and what needs to done to avoid a “fiscal cliff” that is clearly on the horizon.