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If you have the desire to see Alaska or revisit it and have not been to Yakutat, it may need to climb the ranks of your possible destination picks. I personally had wanted to visit this small community on the northern coast of the Gulf of Alaska with its world-class steelhead river for several decades. I made the journey to fish for Coho salmon and was delighted with the fishery and even more enamored with the town, its people and the lay of the land.

In anticipation of upcoming budget hearings, last week members of the Scotts Valley City Council discussed capital improvement priorities for next fiscal year, as well as the next five years, as detailed in the “Five-year Capital Improvement Plan” submitted by Interim Public Works Director Steve Hammack.

Lawyers, accountants and insurance agents were on hand to pitch their services at a meeting for one of the largest and now legal industries in the county growing and selling marijuana. On May 9 at the Freight Building at Depot Park, the county’s premier cannabis industry trade association, Green Trade of Santa Cruz, hosted a meeting for their members to network with the business support professionals needed to be successful.

Sandy Oppenheim, a Ben Lomond resident since 1995, always enjoys a game of tennis in Highlands Park, her “home court.”   She plays every week and gushes, “My Ben Lomond life is so lucky, I couldn’t be happier than here, in this beautiful spot.”  Before her penchant for Highlands’ courts, she won championships in the United States Tennis Association (USTA), coached at Soquel High School, and played at the La Madrona courts for several years.  However, she’s “never played a game in a more beautiful place than Highlands.”

Somebody snapped this photograph on Tuesday of Officer Todd Stosuy giving a briefing to the Santa Cruz County Equine Evacuation Unit and Amateur Radio Emergency Services before being deployed to feed animals in place. We would like to take the time to personally thank all the volunteers currently assisting us. Without their assistance there is absolutely no way we would be able to feed so many animals in place. Without them it is likely many animals would starve or die of dehydration. They are truly serving our community and its neediest animals.

Late August 18th, I finished my latest article, “A Perfect Storm for Fire.”  Throughout that Tuesday, I gained more motivation for the piece, as smoke gradually obscured our valley from my window.  At the time, the fires throughout the county seemed manageable.  Robert Gray, the Felton Fire Protection District Chief assured, “We’ve sent assistance to neighboring agencies, but in Felton we’ve had no fires.  We’ve just chased a few fallen trees and power lines.” However, concern for air quality soon paled in comparison with the Tuesday night evacuations of all Boulder Creek residents.  Countless other neighborhoods soon followed.   

A tiny fawn lay alone in the middle of the road. For hours, drivers maneuvered around her on the driveway leading to a camp off Zayante Road, ignoring the 4-pound animal with the swollen eyes. No one stopped to help her. They were too busy going to a camp event that day.