Columns

Are you ready for some plain talk?               “The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the                 cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles or                   the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with...

Always on the lookout for potential problems in my garden, I can use all the help I can get. Solutions are out there. One of my go-to websites that I use to diagnose those problems is UC Integrated Pest Management or http://ipm.ucanr.edu. You can...

It’s been a tough couple weeks for my houseplants. Power outages from recent storms made me move my African violet, which was just starting to bloom over to a window for more light. Others are staged on tabletops. I know my houseplants clean the...

The blouse was grey, and the most beautiful blouse that this little 8-year-old girl had ever seen in her short lifetime. The blouse had ruffles on its sleeves and a ruffled ascot at its neckline; I couldn’t take my eyes off the blouse that...

I see some outstanding new rose varieties available for the 2023 season. It won’t come as a surprise that they are all very fragrant and have good disease resistance. So while you’re out in your garden pruning your existing roses, consider adding a new...

Ever feel like you wish you had someone else’s body type? Is the body you want always just out of reach? Like no matter what you do, you’ll never quite be slim, strong or fit enough? If this is true, try to not be...

Santa Cruz County recently received some unsettling, although not surprising, news that we are the most expensive rental housing market in the United States. In rankings compiled by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Santa Cruz-Watsonville market topped even San Francisco, San Jose, Salinas...

As we celebrate the holidays, I am very thankful for our community, Scotts Valley City Staff and our various commissioners and fellow city council members. I look forward to continuing the good work that has been accomplished through the pandemic, including 2022. It’s been exciting...

There is a fine line between hope and expectations. In the latter, you are mostly depending on others to help you achieve an end to your desires, whereas hope is a positive feeling generated from within oneself—a desire that something might happen. Emily Dickinson’s metaphor...

With the recent tragic shootings across the Nation including Uvalde Texas, there is encouragement with the historic bipartisan action taken by Congress. It’s been challenging to balance an individual’s 2nd Amendment rights while protecting public safety. Recent action taken by Congress will make a...