Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond presents the acclaimed play Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Peter Gelblum on stage at Ben Lomond’s Park Hall.

Jan Nelson

Early next year, Scotts Valley residents will weigh in on the lofty goal of maintaining a small-town character, while meeting the financial realities of operating a city.

The solid approval by California voters of Proposition 51, authorizing up to $9 billion in bonds to fund new schools and school renovation projects, allows Scotts Valley Unified School District officials to go forward with plans to seek up to $6 million of that bond money to build a new gym at the middle school. Fifty-six percent of county voters endorsed the proposition

Boulder Creek residents overwhelmingly voted to levy a $35 parcel tax to buy new equipment for the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District.

Measure D, which would levy a new half-cent Santa Cruz County sales tax to fund $17 million a year in transportation improvements, hovered just above the two-thirds margin required for approval this week.

Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees President Michael Shulman was re-elected to a third four-year term, leading all candidates. He will be joined by three new trustees on the five-member board.

Former city finance director Jack Dilles ousted three-term incumbent Dene Bustichi in the Nov. 8 Scotts Valley City Council election.

The Valley Women’s Club and the Monterey Bay Air Resources District again joined this year in honoring young artists in the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, grades K-12.