Opinion

Everything in the garden is full and lush in June. Your Japanese maple might be getting a little too full for your taste-outgrowing its space, crowding the neighbors, looking like a boring blob. Take the fear out of pruning with these easy steps. Pruning any...

In the movie Independence Day, we heard “….We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We're going to survive! So today, we celebrate our Independence Day!”  We did fight, we did struggle, and we...

Yes, it is happening and official. Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel has allowed the city of Scotts Valley and the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce to host its 20th Art, Wine and Beer Festival with Cops’ N Rodders on Aug. 21-22. This spectacular event...

By the time you read this, your Scotts Valley schools will be educating our students on campus once more. Thanks to a significant effort from our teachers, principals, staff, Assistant Superintendent Michelle Stewart and Superintendent Tanya Krause, our district was the first in the...

As our community continues its recovery from last summer’s CZU Lightning Complex fire, a new concern has emerged. Proposed changes to fire safe regulations by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection could directly impact numerous properties throughout Santa Cruz County, not just in...

Fine line was crossed Trust in the media is in decline. It’s one of the reasons our country finds itself more divided today than we have been in recent memory. One of the reasons for this erosion of trust is the softening of the traditional...

Residents of the San Lorenzo Valley are blessed in many ways. The beauty of our surroundings greets us each day; our neighbors are generally kind and helpful, and, well, neighborly. Employees of local shops and restaurants know our names, our favorite drinks or our...

I confess, I’m a lazy gardener. In July, my idea of working in the garden consists of removing seed pods from the fuchsias and trimming a few parsley and basil sprigs for dinner. I didn’t have to spend time spraying for harmful insects and...

Water is a precious and vital resource. Our bodies are about 60 percent water and our brain—a whopping 70 percent. Less than 1 percent of the water on the Earth, however, is suitable for human consumption. With the population increasing and the water supply...

According to historical records for our area the pollen count is mostly moderate in February. Depending on the weather, Pollen.com and Pollenlibrary.com show medium to high counts only for a few days this month. If you’re an allergy sufferer you don’t need a website...