Rethink the lawn and save money too
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...
Allergy mitigation landscaping
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...
Say ‘No’ to water merger
By Bill Smallman
The Lompico County Water District and San Lorenzo Valley Water District merger was a win-win move. LCWD’s improvements would get done, and SLVWD gained 500 customers. The Felton merger was also a great achievement. The main reason is the intimate relationship between...
The fate of SLVWD is in your hands
By Bob Fultz
The proposed consolidation of the Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley Water Districts (SLVWD) has generated a lot of excellent comments and questions from our community, particularly at the SLVWD Board meeting held on Feb. 4 and attended by almost 100 SLVWD...
Let Hybrid Learning begin
By Roger L. Snyder, Scotts Valley School Bell
At last we have good news to share with our community on the move to bring students, teachers and staff back together on campus at our Scotts Valley schools. Assuming that there are no last-minute regulation changes, starting...
Controlling diseases and pests on fruit trees
I love it when a nice reader takes the time to call me to suggest a topic they’d like to see me write about or remind them what needs to be done at a certain time of year. Take Helen, who lives in Spring...
An entrepreneur with a giving spirit
What do you get when you combine a community builder, entrepreneur and innovative problem solver? Greg Wimp.
In 2020, Greg, owner of four local Togo’s businesses in Santa Cruz County, donated thousands of sandwiches throughout our county to fire evacuees, first responders, frontline workers, salon...
My comfort food of choice
The word “comfort” became synonymous along with food in the last 10 years or so; “Comfort Food” it’s called. Martha Stewart wrote a cookbook entitled “Favorite Comfort Foods,” foods that make you feel good for breakfast, dinner and midnight snacks.
Of course, these foods are...
Relationship Wellness Month
February is Relationship Wellness Month. While working on a healthy relationship should be a year round effort, this time of year is a great opportunity to assess your relationship, nurture it and improve areas in your relationship like connection and communication.
When talking about relationship...
Vitamin B12
In 1885 an English physician and scientist, Thomas Addison discovered a disease with symptoms including pallor, shortness of breath, jaundice, weight loss and muscle spasms. The cause of the disease was unknown, and it was generally fatal. It became known as Addison's anemia (now...
News Briefs | Published July 4, 2025
Tree removal leads to temporary closure on Big Basin Highway
Caltrans will temporarily close a section of southbound Highway 236 (Big Basin Highway) left on...