6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 13-19, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH It’s the first time an American journalist has been detained in Russia since 1986. Evan Gershkovich is a 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter who found himself at the frontlines of the ongoing RussoUkrainian conflict. This New Jersey-native has been covering Russia since 2017, and grew up speaking Russian at home. His parents fled the Soviet Union in the 1970s, escaping growing anti-Semitism. Gershkovich was stopped by the Russian Federal Security Service on March 29 while reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg, and detained on charges of espionage. A Russian court, operating in closed session, ordered him held until the end of May while investigations are ongoing. A conviction could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The Journal has denied the accusations. Gershkovich was accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry, a process that had continued even after the invasion of Ukraine and was thought to grant a degree of protection for Western journalists. At the time of the arrest, he was working on a story about Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian mercenary military organization Wagner, which is fighting for the Kremlin in Ukraine. Good: The Western Flyer, the boat that John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts (and their traveling companions) took down to the Sea of Cortez in 1940, is certainly a historic vessel. Now it’s an award-winning historic vessel, after the boat took home the prize for “Restored Power Vessel” at the Classic Boat Awards in London, England. “We are so honored to receive the Classic Boat Award for the Western Flyer,” John Gregg, founder and board member of the nonprofit Western Flyer Foundation, said in a statement. “It has been a labor of love for everyone involved, and we look forward to an exciting future bringing students and scientists aboard.” Over the past six-plus years, the boat, which was built in 1937, has undergone extensive restoration in Port Townsend, Washington. It is scheduled to return to the Monterey Bay this summer and become a floating classroom. GREAT: Great news for renters and housing efforts in Salinas comes after a five-year effort. On April 4, Salinas City Council unanimously approved a Residential Rental Registry, the first of its kind county-wide. The registry will help city staff track rental stock in the city. “It’s incredibly valuable as we seek to develop more affordable housing opportunities,” Planning Manager Rod Powell told council, noting staff otherwise do not have such details. Landlords will provide basic information: name, phone number, address and the units they are renting. They will pay as little as $20 per year for one unit, or up to $350 for 100-plus. Natalie Herendeen, executive director of the Center for Community Advocacy, says the system will help resolve landlord-tenant disputes thanks to easy access to accurate information: “You will get back more than the value that you put into the registry,” she says. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY Annual cost of maintaining military equipment owned by the Monterey Police Department, including cleaning and training expenses. MPD will present its inventory of military gear to Monterey City Council on April 18, in keeping with AB 481, intended to provide transparency about law enforcement use of military gear. Source: MPD annual military equipment report $15,100 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “He called himself the luckiest man he knew.” -The Scheid family’s statement on Al Scheid, the founder of Scheid Family Wines, who died on March 31 at age 91. The original vineyard was planted in 1972 and in its first 50 years, became one of California’s largest vineyards (see story, mcweekly.com). BEST SUMMER EVER! THE CITY OF MONTEREY FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION MONTEREY.ORG/REC OVERNIGHT CAMP DAY CAMPS TODDLER CAMPS SPORTS CAMPS AND MORE! REGISTER NOW SCAN ME!
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