10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY february 23-march 1, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Seaside police are cracking down on speeding drivers, particularly on residential streets, in response to concerns from residents and in advance of a city-commissioned traffic calming plan currently in the works for Hilby Avenue. Police in Seaside have ramped up enforcement of moving violations considerably, doling out 1,635 traffic citations in 2022—up by 62 percent from the 1,012 citations handed out in 2021 and more than double the 812 citations issued during the height of the pandemic in 2020. While it’s predictable that traffic tickets would escalate as lockdown measures receded and more drivers hit the road, last year’s number was also higher than the number of citations issued pre-pandemic in 2019 (1,233 citations) and 2018 (1,382 citations). Hilby Avenue has been a particular area of emphasis for police amid concerns from residents who say that speeding and collisions have gotten out of hand on the residential street, which connects Fremont Boulevard and General Jim Moore Boulevard. On social media, the Seaside Police Department has talked up both its traffic enforcement efforts on Hilby as well as enhanced signage and speed trailers encouraging motorists to slow down. Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges says reckless driving on Hilby is a particular worry given the number of schools, churches and community centers on the street. There were 17 traffic collisions recorded on Hilby in 2022— the highest number among Seaside’s residential streets—with two of those accidents being “rollovers” that saw vehicles flipped off their wheels. By contrast, the higher-trafficked thoroughfare of Fremont Boulevard saw 72 collisions last year. “For a residential street, 17 [collisions] is high, and a lot of these accidents are based upon speed,” Borges says. While officers are instructed to “be reasonable” in enforcing moving violations, he adds that “without enforcement, a stop sign is just a suggestion.” While Hilby has drawn much of the attention, Borges says Seaside police are also keeping a close eye on other residential streets, including La Salle and Kimball avenues. But he acknowledges that, long term, traffic tickets are no substitute for reconfiguring the streets to make them harder to speed along. To that end, the city of Seaside commissioned Parisi Transportation Consulting in January to devise a traffic calming plan. But with that work expected to take about 10 months, Borges says it’s up to police to enforce the rules in the meantime— rather than “sit back and wait for more crashes and violations to occur.” A few weeks ago, when the Chinese balloon that flew into U.S. airspace made national headlines, a team of graduate students at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey was quietly working to answer a question: Where did the balloon launch from? The story for them started when journalists at the Wall Street Journal reached out to Planet Labs, a satellite imagery company that students and teachers at MIIS work closely with, hoping to use its imagery to find where the balloon launched from, working off a tip that it was somewhere in northeastern China or Inner Mongolia. Sam Lair, who’s working toward a master’s degree in nonproliferation and terrorism studies, took that tip and ran with it, and with a colleague, set about using the Planet Lab imagery to hunt it down. Lair ultimately succeeded in finding a launch site, and it got written up in the Journal. Then, as a journalist with Rolling Stone was working with Lair and his colleagues on a follow-up story, the Washington Post broke the news that U.S. intelligence believed the balloon in question launched from Hainan Island, China, so the MIIS students started hustling to find a launch site there. Lair says they all work independently, then reconvene to reach a consensus; in the case of Hainan Island, it was Lair’s colleague Michael Duitsman who first identified what the team would later agree was the likeliest launch site—a concrete pad 140 meters wide, in a facility encompassed by a security fence. The whole purpose of the students’ work, Lair says, “is to replicate the functions of an intelligence agency for the purposes of civil society.” Lair isn’t yet sure what he’ll do with his degree when he graduates next spring, but he’s enjoying himself in the meantime. “It was pretty cool,” he says. “It’s always fun chasing down mysteries with your friends.” Slow Down Seaside PD clamps down on speeding drivers on Hilby and other residential streets. By Rey Mashayekhi news Cultural Conversation You may have heard people introduce where they live along with a land acknowledgment as to Indigenous people who lived in the same place before them. Louise Miranda Ramirez, tribal chair of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, speaks about the land acknowledgment process, local research and current issues on this topic. She also addresses the history of slavery at local missions and what happened during the post-mission era. 9am-3pm Saturday, Feb. 25. Unitarian Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula, 490 Aguajito Road, Carmel. Free. To register or for more information, contact Karen Brown at 917-2042 or karenb1115@yahoo.com. Bright Beaches Keep Monterey County beaches beautiful. Save the date for the next beach cleanup hosted by the Monterey Surfrider Foundation. Bags, gloves and tabulating sheets to keep track of your haul will be provided, in addition to water and fruit. No sign-up is required ahead of time, and kids of all ages are welcome if an adult accompanies them. 10am Sunday, Feb. 26. Municipal Beach, 201 Municipal Wharf 2. Free. info@surfrider.org. Celebrating Two Casa de Noche Buena is celebrating its two-year anniversary of serving unsheltered women and families. This online event features a virtual tour of the shelter, a keynote speech from CSU Monterey Bay President Dr. Vanya Quiñones, testimony from a former shelter guest and comments from County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew. Noon Tuesday, Feb. 28. Free. To pre-register for the virtual event, visit bit.ly/ CasadeNocheBuenaCelebration2023. For more information, call 658-3811 or visit chservices.org/homelessness/ casa-de-noche-buena. Democracy in Action The Monterey County Board of Supervisors meets and, as always, accepts public comment. Weigh in with this opportunity to address your elected officials directly. 10:30am Tuesday, Feb. 28. Board chambers, 168 W. Alisal St., Salinas. Free. 755-5066, co.monterey.ca.us. Fire Proof The cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel are asking residents to help create a community wildfire protection plan by taking an online survey about wildfire concerns. Survey participants can choose to be entered into a prize drawing. (For more, see story, p. 8.) The survey is available at haveyoursaymonterey.org/cwpp. Hot Air A Chinese spy balloon prompted a team of grad students at MIIS to get to work. By David Schmalz Seaside police have ramped up traffic enforcement amid concerns over speeding on Hilby Avenue, which is home to multiple schools, churches and community centers. e-mail: publiccitizen@mcweekly.com TOOLBOX “Without enforcement, a stop sign is just a suggestion.” Daniel Dreifuss
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