Opinion

They’re called the dog days of summer. You know, those sultry days with the hottest summer temperatures. The name “dog star” comes from the ancient Egyptians who called Sirius, the Dog Star, after their god, Osiris. His head in pictograms resembles that of a...

RE: Shout Out to the Ben Lomond Post Office

A couple of years ago I bought a dwarf butterfly bush and planted it in a pot near my entry. It’s one of the plants that came back from the roots after the fire and it now lives on my deck but in a...

Do you set personal goals as you head into the new year? Did you know that people who set goals tend to have higher self-motivation, self-esteem, independence and confidence? Having goals gives us a sense of purpose and something to strive for—all important for...

My neighbor Sue answered her door sneezing and coughing with puffy eyes and a red runny nose that Rudolph would envy. We live among redwoods and it’s their mating season. Pollen.com predicts pollen levels will increase as alder, juniper and birch release their pollen....

Winter weather has begun, even if the official start to winter is still weeks away. And while we desperately need the rain, we must be on guard for the dangers it can present. The large storm that drenched Santa Cruz County on the evening of...

Driving over the Granite Creek Overpass is a wonderful, heartfelt, and mostly handmade display of thanks for all the responders and volunteers during the recent wildfires. Imagine the dismay of noting on both sides of the overpass, blatant advertising in the guise of thanks. In large letters is the business name and information, which is repeated and sandwiched in significantly smaller letters is a message of thanks. Advertising is advertising. I feel this significantly diminishes the value and passion we in Scotts Valley and all of

Let’s keep our water rates affordable I think the numbers and logic regarding a proposed San Lorenzo Valley Water District surcharge simply do not add up. Water rates fund operations, reserves and long-term debt. Large infrastructure projects, including those required due to fire damages, are...

Vote against the SLVWD increase I support my San Lorenzo Valley Water District but cannot in good conscience support the proposed surcharge. It is not about funding this disaster recovery nor other infrastructure projects. It is about what direction we want our district to take...