4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY May 16-22, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH Every year, the Pulitzer Prizes are awarded to celebrate the best in journalism, and the 2023 awards were announced on May 6. In the public service category, ProPublica was recognized for its “groundbreaking and ambitious reporting that pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court to reveal how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel, pushing the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.” For investigative reporting, the New York Times was recognized for revealing the extent to which migrant children are working in a variety of industries—and how systems meant to protect against child labor have failed to stop it. The local reporting award went to City Bureau and the Invisible Institute, which collaborated to reveal how Chicago police handle missing person cases, and the disproportionate impact on Black women and girls. The breaking news award went to Lookout Santa Cruz for its coverage of flooding and mudslides in Santa Cruz County in January 2023. Good: The digital divide doesn’t just apply to income and geographic area—it also applies to age. According to the Pew Research Center, 1 in 4 adults over 65 don’t use the internet, while 35 percent lack a home broadband connection. As the world increasingly socializes online, this has left many seniors feeling lonely and isolated. To help combat this, AT&T and Human-I-T donated 100 refurbished laptops to Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula on Wednesday, May 15, which were distributed to older Monterey County residents at the Meals on Wheels Community Center in Pacific Grove. Once they received the laptops, the residents were then invited to participate in a digital literacy workshop that covered topics such as basic computer skills and online safety. According to Internet for All, 8 percent of households in California don’t have access to the internet or a device. GREAT: Three cities and the County of Monterey have been awarded funds by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support efforts to create more affordable housing, as well as support efforts to assist renters and move people from homeless shelters into housing. Salinas, which has plans to convert a hotel into transitional housing and is home to the county’s largest shelter, received the highest amount of funds, totaling over $3 million. Over $2 million comes from Community Development Block Grants. Another $729,000 is earmarked for building housing, the rest is for emergency housing and shelters. The City of Monterey received over $251,000 in CDBG money, while Seaside received $327,000, also from CDBG. The County received just under $1.2 million in CDBG money. The total influx of federal housing and assistance funds received is more than $4.8 million. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY The number of zero-emission vehicles Californians purchased in the first three months of 2024, the highest ever for the first quarter of a year. That total accounted for 23.9 percent of all new vehicle sales in the state during that time, and drove the historical number of ZEV sales in the state to over 1.8 million. Source: California Energy Commission 102,507 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I am extremely thankful for everyone… keeping it all together to find these animals.” -King City Mayor Mike LeBarre, speaking May 10 about the arrests of three people suspected of killing six in a pair of South County shootings (see story, montereycountynow.com). FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION MONTEREY.ORG/REC (831) 646-3866 SCAN ME! REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! THE CITY OF MONTEREY BEST SUMMER EVER! CAMP QUIEN SABE OVERNIGHT CAMP WHISPERING PINES DAY CAMP TINY TOTS SUMMER CAMP SPORTS CAMPS SPECIALTY CAMPS LEGO, GYMNASTICS, WOODWORKING AND MUCH MORE!
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