Scotts Valley Police Chief Steve Walpole seems to be following the recommendations of several studies finding that woman police officers improve the overall performance and reduce complaints of police violence in major cities across the country. After several years of turnover and vacancies in the Scotts Valley Police Department, the department is now fully staffed with the addition of two new female police officers: Officer Meredith Roberts and Officer Pascal Wowak.

At a special meeting on June 27, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) board of directors received public input on criticism received from the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury about the SLVWD board’s communication practices with the public. This public discussion became somewhat acrimonious as it progressed, with a small group of citizens agreeing wholeheartedly with the findings and recommendations of the Grand Jury.

As summer approaches, so does California’s dreaded fire season. In recent years, fires have run rampant in Northern California, including last year’s Bear Fire which destroyed 400 acres of land.

The massive “slip-out” of the mountainside underneath the northbound lane of Highway 9, just south of Brookdale, resulted in more than 16 months of a temporary traffic signal and single lane access to Boulder Creek. For regular commuters, the long-awaited completion of the repair project appears noticeably close- scheduled for September. 

Visitors to the Loch Lomond Recreation Area, which is nestled up in a narrow canyon in the Santa Cruz Mountains accessed by a windy road up from Lompico, find it odd it is owned and managed by the City of Santa Cruz Water Department. Especially when the city limit line is a good ten miles down the valley.

With the number of hotel rooms expected to double in Scotts Valley in the next 18 months, and with a  “fiscal cliff” lying ahead for the city budget, several city council members think it may be an opportune time to raise the local hotel room tax, called the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT).  The question, is by how much?

Getting kids out of the classroom and into nature has long been held by teachers and parents as the best approach to teaching the fundamentals environmental science. The planning for a Nature Discovery Park for children directly adjacent to the new community library in Felton takes this approach to another level- kids can use the park and the library without needing a ride between them, and will have access to both traditional educational materials and outdoor education at the same place.

According to three candidates running together for three seats on the San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) Board of Directors to be contested in the November election, the best way to guarantee change in the way the district conducts business is to elect all three as a slate, who will, if successful, have a majority on the five member board.

Sam Martin is not your average high school student. At 16, Martin, who grew up in Ben Lomond, has qualified for Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross Championship. After placing first in several amateur youth competitions, Martin, 16, received an invitation to the National Championship. Sam will participate in the 125cc and 250cc in his age group during the races from July 30 to August 4 in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Private well owners made their interests clear at a “stakeholders” meeting for the Santa Margarita Groundwater Agency.  In a standing-room only meeting on May 31, nearly all of the 60 people at the meeting raised their hands when asked if they were representing private well owners.