Tag: California

In view of the “fiscal cliff” lying ahead for the City of Scotts Valley, the city council is keeping its promise of looking for every possible way to improve the city’s fiscal situation.  At last week’s city council meeting, these efforts included a workshop on city fees, aimed at getting closer to cost recovery for some city services, and a discussion about raising the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) or “local hotel room tax” from 10 percent of hotel room charges to 12 percent.  

After being denied in March, Nicky Ramos-Beban, executive director of Integrative Leadership Academy, with the support of several parents and teachers, submitted a revised proposal to build a new independent charter middle school as part of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District. The SLVUSD board of trustees heard public comments on the petition at a board meeting on June 13.

The Santa Cruz County Planning Department has published an online, comprehensive guide to the planning regulations, permit fees, estimated building costs and financing of accessory dwelling units (ADU’s), also known as granny flats, in-law units or “Tiny Homes”, for the unincorporated areas of the county.

    The summer I was five years old my Aunt Betty outfitted me in ‘berry-picking-clothes’ which consisted of my oldest pair of Buster Brown shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, and a thin rope which had an empty Hills Bros coffee can attached and tied around my waist.  I was now ready for my first berry-picking adventure.

The newly rebuilt Trout Farm Inn is closing in on completion after a catastrophic fire broke out on June 5, 2016, and should be back open for business in late July or early August, according to one of the owners, Russell Gross.

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.

I know many people who wait until the beginning of May to start their vegetable gardens for the summer. Conditions make not be right for them to grow cool season vegetables like beets, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, unions, radish and spinach. Those plants don’t mind cold soil and chilly weather. But it you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to plant those scrumptious tomatoes you crave- wait no more. And if you plan your garden right you can still grow some of the cool season crops in the shade of your other sun lovers.

New president at Cabrillo College balks at Governor Brown’s funding plan

I’m envious of those of you who garden in lots of sun. Well maybe not so much on a hot July day but mostly I wish I could grow more edibles in the opening of my tall redwood forest. My neighbor gives me volunteer Sun Gold cherry tomatoes each spring and some years all the stars align and I enjoy these sweet morsels, picking them mostly as I putter in the garden. They rarely get inside on a salad but boy, are they delicious.

Despite Santa Cruz County’s reputation as one of the least affordable places to live in the state, if not the country, real alarm has been expressed at recent Scotts Valley City Council meetings about the housing boom the city is facing in the not too distant future.  Public comment at city council meetings has included emotional criticism and strong recommendations of caution- that the small town character of Scotts Valley is directly threatened by actual and proposed housing developments.