6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 10-16, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH A 16-person cohort has begun a year-long internship at local radio station KAZU (90.3 FM). Students work up to 20 hours a week, for $15.50/hour, and also earn academic credit. There’s no guarantee their work will air on the station—which is a professional station, not a student-run station—but Associate General Manager John Sepulvado expects listeners will hear many of their voices in the months to come. (And when two interns went on the air during the latest fund drive, their half-hour was the biggest money-maker of the entire pitch, bringing in $2,700 in donations.) Sepulvado envisions the internship program as a starting point to establish a stronger journalism presence at CSU Monterey Bay—which is home to the station, while its auxiliary University Corporation owns the station license. “We have the opportunity to help the university establish a stronger voice,” he says. “We want to be a school that is a counterweight to what I see as East Coast and Midwest journalism school dominance.” Good: Good news for locals interested in developing the skills needed to land a job in the construction industry comes via a new apprenticeship program. The Monterey County Workforce Development Board, in partnership with the Monterey/Santa Cruz Building Trades Council, has launched a 10-week, 350-hour training program. Participants can expect to learn basic skills like how to use power tools and hand tools, read a blueprint and more. They will also be able to obtain certifications in areas including safety, OSHA guidelines and first aid. After in-class training comes a four-week paid internship with local construction companies. The last day to register is Sept. 8; classes start Sept. 24 at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 62 in Castroville. For information or to apply, visit montereycountywdb.org/pre-apprenticeship. GREAT: For the first time since it closed due to storm damage on Jan. 4, Jacks Peak County Park is set to reopen on Friday, Aug. 11. “Jacks suffered the most damage of any county park,” says Bryan Flores, the chief of county parks. “We just got hammered.” Over 40 trees went down, including a tree that took out a PG&E transmission line, taking out service to the park’s water tank, and another tree that damaged piping to the water tank. Crews completed debris removal of downed trees after conditions dried out, in mid-April. Then came power restoration, then repairs to the water tank, which serves not just bathrooms but also potential firefighting needs. “Our tank is now full, and we’re ready to reopen,” Flores says. During the seven-month closure, crews replaced park signage and a restroom roof, among other improvements. Summer hours are 8am-7pm. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY The time it took Jess Hogg of Salinas (also the swim coach at Soledad High School) to swim the 21.3-mile length of Lake Tahoe from Aug. 1-2. He trained over seven months in pools in Soledad and Salinas and in Monterey Bay. Source: Lake Tahoe Open Water Swimming Association 11 hours, 46 min. QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The idea is that we want everybody to benefit.” -Francisco Rodríguez speaking about the state’s $600 million Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF), which will go toward economic development programs. Rodríguez is seeking input from agricultural workers for the Uplift Central Coast Coalition, which will apply for funding on behalf of the region (see story, mcweekly.com). montagehealth.org/ohana
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