4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 10-16, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH The U.S. Navy must acknowledge that records exist of an investigation into whether a Marine Corps veteran mishandled classified documents, a federal judge ruled Sept. 30. The veteran, Jordan Duncan, was arrested in Idaho in 2020 over his alleged involvement in a neo-Nazi plot to sabotage the power grid following an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. During an open court session, a prosecutor revealed that Duncan was in possession of a hard drive of classified materials during his arrest, and that the FBI was investigating him. When Raw Story requested those records under public records laws, the Navy refused to acknowledge whether it had the records, citing that such a revelation could benefit “adversaries of the U.S. government.” Judge Loren L. AliKhan rejected the notion. “It is crucial for Americans to have a comprehensive understanding of the military’s policies and actions taken in response to domestic extremism and security,” Raw Story Publisher Roxanne Cooper said. “This transparency is not merely a matter of curiosity, but a cornerstone of democratic oversight and accountability.” Good: Good news comes with the Oct. 8 approval by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors of an event permit for the Wildflower Experience, returning after a six-year hiatus. The triathlon and endurance racing series is scheduled to take place May 2-4, 2025 at Lake San Antonio. The event has been held since 1983, but was marred with postponements due to low water levels in the lake in the past decade. The course was temporarily modified for the 2014 and 2015 events, but the Board of Supervisors closed the park in July 2015, effectively canceling it for 2016-2017. After co-owners Terry and Betsy Davis decided to retire their company, TriCalifornia, their daughter, Colleen Bousman, took over in 2018 under her own company See & Be Productions. Low water levels canceled the event a third time in 2019, followed by cancellations due to the Covid pandemic in 2020-2022. GREAT: A new bike path project in Monterey is starting to take shape, as the Monterey City Council awarded $230,810 to BKF Engineers to carry out environmental and engineering planning for a separated bicyclist and pedestrian path that will travel on Mark Thomas Drive, Fairground Road and Sloat Avenue. While the project might ultimately be built in a piecemeal fashion depending on funding sources, the idea is that the plans be “shovel-ready,” meaning that they’ve received all necessary approvals. Monterey traffic engineer Marissa Garcia says the path will loop in various destinations like the Fairgrounds, Hyatt Regency Monterey on Mark Thomas Drive and the Naval Postgraduate School on Sloat Avenue. Mark Thomas Drive in particular has little or no shoulder, so the path will finally offer a safe route through that stretch of road. Garcia says the planning is expected to be done in a year to 15 months. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY That’s the number of new housing units the City of Monterey must plan for through 2031. The state-mandated number is outlined in the city’s housing element document, which was certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development on Oct. 4. Source: City of Monterey 3,654 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “It’s a worldwide culture that happens 365 days a year.” -Carri Rochelle (aka TidbiT), speaking about Burning Man during a local gathering of “burners” at Del Monte Beach in Monterey on Oct. 5. About 500 people attended the event throughout the day (see story, montereycountynow.com).
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