Scotts Valley High School is transforming into an eco-friendly, sustainable campus, with the assistance of the “Green Team.”

I’d like to share some of my thoughts on making for a very safe summer for everyone.

A couple of months ago I met with local 4-H club members as they started to plan for their upcoming spring project. This year 4-H members from Felton, Scotts Valley and Quail Creek in the Zayante area are putting their minds and enthusiasm to good use to further educate themselves and the community about the importance of beneficial insects to our world. They will share their efforts at the upcoming Felton Library Friends Garden Tour on May 19th. Proceeds from the tour will benefit the new Felton Branch Library and Nature Discovery Park project slated to break ground this summer.

This past week, Scotts Valley Unified School District board approved the hiring of Tracey Neilsen to the new principal of Vine Hill Elementary School. Her position will be effective as of July 1. 

The legacy left behind by Lynn Beebe, former guidance counselor at Scotts Valley Middle School, will be in the Scotts Valley students who continue on to pursue a college degree.

The fifth of May is just ‘around the corner’ and I have all of the ingredients needed for making Tamales, absolutely necessary in my opinion, to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. 

Radio station manager Tina Davey never imagined she would have the funds to build a new antenna, needed desperately in order to service the whole valley. But during KBCZ’s last pledge drive a few weeks ago several generous donations from the community and an anonymous donor who gave $8,000 helped reach the goal.

At the beginning of August 1897, Judge Logan tackled the task of converting 400 acres of former forest into a resort community.  It was decided to begin development of “Clear Creek” by concentrating on two tracts.  Cottage lots would be laid out between the county highway and the river.  The old skid roads leading to the railyard known as Reed’s or Bloom’s Switch would become streets.  The first job was to clear away the underbrush that had occupied the landscape.  The Mountain Echo applauded the idea of “leaving all tree growths, making a beautiful park of it.”  The founding families would build beside the creek, on either side of the main road.

The vision of Monterey Bay communities buying their electricity from a local, publically-owned utility that sells only carbon-free energy from renewable sources will become a reality this July. Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) will begin selling 100 percent “green” energy to residential customers on July 1st, and the bill from this new utility company will be incorporated into the regular bill from PG&E.