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Scotts Valley grieves the closing of Bethany University after 92 years, but from a purely dollars-and-cents point of view, the loss probably won’t have a major impact on the local economy — and, in the long run, might even help the city’s finances.

Active wildfires in Northern California have already reached historic proportions and continue to burn. Fires around the state, most of which started after thousands of lightning strikes hit the state on August 16th and 17th, have burned over 1.25 millions acres and both the SCU Lightning Complex and the LNU Lightning Complex rank among the state’s five largest wildfires in modern history. Locally, the CZU Lightning Complex has burned over 81,000 acres, destroyed more than 600 structures, and is 21% contained as of August 27th. The size and number of wildfires all burning concurrently have put immense strain on CAL FIRE’s limited resources. According to CAL FIRE Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox 96% of CAL FIRE’s resources are currently engaged in fighting active fires and more resources are needed. Cox serves as the line officer on the CZU Lightning Complex incident. CAL FIRE’s success in fighting the current siege of fires around the state relies on its ability to cooperate with countless supporting agencies around the state and across the country. California’s mutual aid system is the bedrock of this cooperative effort.

Guest column: A stocking full of wishes or stuff

California’s budget crisis and the governor’s proposed $24 billion dollars of cuts and borrowing have provoked thousands of constituents to contact me. Educators, in-home support service (IHSS) providers, healthy families advocates, state parks supporters, and many others have lodged strong opposition to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May revised budget proposals that seek to balance California’s budget on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable and needy.

These days, we hear the phrase “shop locally” an awful lot. Many of us in Santa Cruz County already understand that shopping locally is generally a good idea and try to do so.

The bull market that started in 2009 is now the longest in history, and Silicon Valley stocks have been among the leaders. Some have gone up by 10 times or more. But it’s rare for anything to go up forever.

EDITOR,