As news of the devastating Camp Fire dominated the media this week, several residents in Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley felt compelled to help in any way possible.
Santa Cruz County sent a strike team on Thursday to the Camp Fire in Butte County. Five engines were sent with a leader and an assistant leader. The agencies participating are Scotts Valley, Branciforte, Santa Cruz, Central and Aptos/La Selva. The Strike Team leader is from Central and the Assistant Leader is from Aptos/La Selva. Four people are assigned to each engine.
Throughout the year I am asked for design help and plant suggestions but especially in the fall I hear the request, “I’d love to add more grasses to my garden.” There’s no doubt that the movement and sound of ornamental grasses in the landscape adds another dimension to our experience. Many grasses and grass-like plants use less water than other plants, too.
With a slew of questions from the community, PG&E came up short with answers after a disorganized public outreach meeting that was planned at a day’s notice. The public meeting was held Wednesday afternoon at the Ben Lomond Fire Department, but the session turned somewhat rancorous after it became clear that no new, locally-oriented information about PG&E’s tree cutting for the Community Wildfire Safety Program was going to be available.
(Editor’s Note: This is Part III of a three-part series on state-wide propositions on the November Ballot. Part I covered Prop. 1 through 4 (Oct. 12 edition), Part II covered Props. 5, 6 and 10 (Oct. 19 edition).
Measure G proposes a hike in sales tax of one-half cent per dollar spent in the unincorporated areas of the county. The measure was put on the ballot by a unanimous vote of the CountyBoard of Supervisors. A key argument of county budget officials proposing the increase is because about half of the county’s residents live in unincorporated areas, primarily in Live Oak, Aptos and San Lorenzo Valley, the county provides a good number of municipal services usually provided by incorporated cities-and the county needs to catch up with the sales tax revenues collected in the four incorporated cities to provide “critical unmet needs” in the unincorporated areas.
There’s not a year that goes by that I don’t plant some new bulbs in the fall. I may battle squirrels, deer and shade but come spring it’ll all be worth it. Daffodils and narcissus are safe but what would spring be without all the other gorgeous bulbs to welcome in the season?
The housing affordability crisis across the state has inspired several measures on the Nov. 6 ballot. A local response is Measure H, which if approved will authorize the county to issue up to $140 million in general obligation bonds, generating an estimated $8.6 million annually to fund affordable housing throughout the county. The total price tag for the principal and interest of these 35 year bonds is estimated at about $274 million-almost double the face value of the proposed bond issue.
A project to construct sidewalks, curb ramps, driveways and retaining walls on Highway 9 between Graham Hill Road and the San Lorenzo Valley schools...