november 14-20, 2024 montereycountynow.com LOCAL & INDEPENDENT Symphony Season 33 | A seat at the Latin Grammys 34 | When in Wales 40 First Place General Excellence • 2024 CA Journalism Awards • The power of the arts Local arts nonprofits not only fill a gap in arts education, but enrich all of us. p. 20 By Agata Pop˛eda INSIDE: 206 local nonprofits’ Big Ideas to make our community thrive.
2 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com november 14-20, 2024 • ISSUE #1894 • Established in 1988 Jean Anton (iPhone 15 Pro Max) The longtime “turkey tree” tradition continues at a Pacific Grove home, often turning heads of passersby. “It makes everyone wonder what the heck it is—then they realize it’s two weeks before Thanksgiving, and it makes everyone smile,” the photographer says. Monterey County photo of the week Send Etc. submissions to etcphoto@montereycountynow.com; please include caption and camera info. On the cover: An engaged audience member at Sunset Cultural Center during a 2023 Classroom Connections performance by Sewam Native American Dance. Sunset Center is one of dozens of local nonprofits working in the arts and culture sector. Cover Photo: Martin Salzmann, Monterey Bay Photo Tours etc. Copyright © 2024 by Milestone Communications Inc. 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, California 93955 (telephone 831-394-5656). All rights reserved. Monterey County Weekly, the Best of Monterey County and the Best of Monterey Bay are registered trademarks. No person, without prior permission from the publisher, may take more than one copy of each issue. Additional copies and back issues may be purchased for $1, plus postage. Mailed subscriptions: $300 yearly, prepaid. The Weekly is an adjudicated newspaper of Monterey County, court decree M21137. The Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Visit our website at http://www.montereycountynow. com. Audited by CVC. Founder & CEO Bradley Zeve bradley@montereycountynow.com (x103) Publisher Erik Cushman erik@montereycountynow.com (x125) Editorial editor Sara Rubin sara@montereycountynow.com (x120) associate editor Erik Chalhoub ec@montereycountynow.com (x135) features editor Dave Faries dfaries@montereycountynow.com (x110) Staff Writer Celia Jiménez celia@montereycountynow.com (x145) Staff Writer Pam Marino pam@montereycountynow.com (x106) Staff Writer Agata Pope¸da (x138) aga@montereycountynow.com staff writer Katie Rodriguez (California Local News Fellow) katie@montereycountynow.com (x102) Staff Writer David Schmalz david@montereycountynow.com (x104) Staff photographer Daniel Dreifuss daniel@montereycountynow.com (x140) Digital PRODUCER Sloan Campi sloan@montereycountynow.com (x105) contributors Nik Blaskovich, Rob Brezsny, Robert Daniels, Tonia Eaton, Paul Fried, Jesse Herwitz, Jacqueline Weixel, Paul Wilner Cartoons Rob Rogers, Tom Tomorrow Production Art Director/Production Manager Karen Loutzenheiser karen@montereycountynow.com (x108) Graphic Designer Kevin Jewell kevinj@montereycountynow.com (x114) Graphic Designer Alexis Estrada alexis@montereycountynow.com (x114) Graphic Designer Lani Headley lani@montereycountynow.com (x114) SALES senior Sales Executive Diane Glim diane@montereycountynow.com (x124) Senior Sales Executive George Kassal george@montereycountynow.com (x122) Senior Sales Executive Keith Bruecker keith@montereycountynow.com (x118) Classifieds business development director Keely Richter keely@montereycountynow.com (x123) Digital Director of Digital Media Kevin Smith kevin@montereycountynow.com (x119) Distribution Distribution AT Arts Co. atartsco@gmail.com Distribution Control Harry Neal Business/Front Office Office Manager Linda Maceira linda@montereycountynow.com (x101) Bookkeeping Rochelle Trawick 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, CA 93955 831-394-5656, (FAX) 831-394-2909 www.montereycountynow.com We’d love to hear from you. Send us your tips at tipline.montereycountynow.com. now [nou] adverb at the present time or moment Monterey County Now Local news, arts and entertainment, food and drink, calendar and daily newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter: www.montereycountynow.com/subscribe Find us online: www.montereycountynow.com
www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 3 n Building resilience as new parents Friday, December 6, 1–2:30 p.m. n Cultivating peace in the home Tuesday, December 10, 5:30–7 p.m. n Mom’s Corner Mondays, 9:30–11 a.m. n New and expecting dads group First and third Wednesday of each month, 5:30–7 p.m. n New moms returning to work Tuesdays, noon–1 p.m. Learn more and register at montagehealth.org/ohanaclasses Parenting support groups and mental fitness classes
4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH As he did during his first term as president and his latest campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has made it no secret that he despises the media, specifically those that criticize him. In one of his last campaign speeches, Trump said “I don’t mind that so much” if members of the media are shot. Trump’s election victory prompted several press freedom groups to issue warnings about the next four years. The Freedom of the Press Foundation, in a statement, warned that Trump’s “campaign against free speech online will be even worse this time around,” noting that his rhetoric has already emboldened people, including politicians, to retaliate against the media. “With their leader back in the White House, Trump wannabes nationwide will feel even more empowered to harass the press—and they’ve spent Trump’s years in exile priming their base to tolerate it,” the statement reads. The Committee to Protect Journalists proclaimed this a “pivotal moment in U.S. history,” and stressed that while persecution and violence against journalists is familiar around the world, it “must not now also become commonplace in the United States.” Good: Nonprofit Transformative Justice Center, an organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of those impacted by the criminal justice system, celebrates the opening of its new space on Tyler Street in Monterey on Thursday, Nov. 14. The nonprofit organizes the Empathy in Action program, which serves as a vital space for hope and healing, recognizing the talents, struggles and potential for transformation among the incarcerated. It gives previously incarcerated people the tools to successfully reenter society. Attendees of the grand opening have the opportunity to engage with the center’s programs, explore art and literature created by incarcerated individuals, and experience a unique replica of a 6-by-9 prison cell. The Transformative Justice Center aims to help hundreds of “Brothers in Blue” at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad find meaning and solace despite their circumstances. GREAT: Where do the differently abled children play? Thanks to a vision from Amanda Bakker, whose daughter, Tatum Bakker, was born with spina bifida, there is a playground for kids of all abilities in Salinas, Tatum’s Treehouse. But the need for inclusive playgrounds is bigger than one family, so they founded nonprofit Tatum’s Garden Foundation which on Nov. 10, celebrated the groundbreaking of its second fully inclusive playground. Developed in partnership with another nonprofit, Carmel Valley Community Youth Center, the new destination at the CVCYC playground in Carmel Valley Community Park is designed by Leathers & Associates, which has built over 3,400 custom playgrounds—this one will be built with the help of hundreds of volunteers. “Tatum’s Treehouse represents our commitment to ensuring every child in Monterey County has a place to belong, play and thrive,” Amanda Bakker said in a statement. The playground is expected to open in early December. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY The number of participating nonprofits in this year’s Monterey County Gives!, which launches Thursday, Nov. 14. Read more and donate at mcgives.com. Source: Monterey County Gives! 206 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We will persist, resist and insist.” -Esther Hobbs, lead organizer of the Women’s March Monterey Bay, speaking at a Nov. 9 gathering at Window on the Bay in Monterey in response to Donald Trump’s presidential election victory (see story, montereycountynow.com). This project was supported, in part, by grant number CFDA 90SAPG0094-05 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy. It’s tIme to talk about medIcare coverage Medicare costs, medicare advantage (Part C), and the prescription drug plans (Part D) change each year... learn more at one of our Free medicare updates Presentations Call to learn more about our FREE service in your area! 800-434-0222 www.allianceonaging.org Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program - ‘HICAP’ Greenfield: Greenfield Community Center Thu 11/14 at 1pm (English) and 2:30pm (Spanish) Carmel: The Carmel Foundation Mon 11/18 at 1:30pm (English) Can You Solve the MYSterY Before tiMe runS out? Follow the rabbit. Rob the bank. Travel through time to save the world....and many more. A 60 minute adventure, 9 rooms to choose from each with a different theme. Great for birthdays or special events. Kid friendly. All locations surrounded by great local restaurants. 4 MONTEREY LOCATIONS 765 Wave St, Ste A2 • 599 Lighthouse Ave • 700 Cannery Row Ste DD and Oscar’s Playground 685 Cannery Row (Third Floor) 831.241.6616 BOOk TODAy! 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www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 5 Memory Care with Compassion Inspire Connection (831) 718-9041 • merrillgardensmonterey.com 200 Iris Canyon Rd, Monterey, CA 93940 M O N T E R E Y Lic #275202591 Our Inspire Connection Program embodies what is important to you and your loved one. With our special approach designed for memory care, we create an atmosphere where residents continue to enjoy life one moment at a time. Call Today To Learn More Prevention•Education•Treatment•Recovery Preventing alcohol and drug addiction by offering education, prevention, treatment and recovery to individuals and families regardless of income level. CREATE A PLAN TO QUIT SMOKING! It’s never too late to quit using tobacco. The sooner you quit, the more you can reduce your chances of getting cancer or other diseases, leading to a longer and healthier life. #GreatAmericanSmokeout Support youth prevention services! www.SunStreetCenters.org
6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com 831 Putting together a gallery show— everything from selecting the theme and the artwork to arranging them in a way that makes them flow—is a creative decision-making process that takes a lot of thinking. For many, art is a universal language; for others, it’s a code they don’t fully understand. A new game, Z Photo Game, which will launch on Tuesday, Nov. 19, will give people an easy way to put together their own photographic exhibition. Steve Zmak is a local commercial photographer and graphic designer based in Marina who designed this game. For years, he was hunting for an idea he could turn into a board game when the idea struck him. “I’ve just been waiting for the idea, and then it hit me on a [Big Sur] camping trip with my friends,” Zmak says. He was inspired by the National Park games and Cards Against Humanity, but with photographs instead of illustrations or words. Zmak spent three years developing and refining the game. He made a few changes to make it entertaining while keeping its fine art essence. Zmak played games from a young age, but growing up he never saw photography games, so he says this was his opportunity to combine his skills and passion into one. The game brings nostalgia for those who grew up with analog photography or have taken analog photography classes. The board looks like a negative sleeve—a plastic sheet where you store the developed film. The pawns players use are 35mm film canisters. It is more than a board game. It has a collection of 209 curated images from Zmak’s collection, including photos from California, Hawaii, Oregon and elsewhere with an array of style of content: close-ups, abstracts, people, animals and landscapes. The players are fine art photographers, and on each turn there is an exhibit curator (think of the Banker from Monopoly) that leads the game. The curator chooses the name of the exhibition, at least two words, and the players select a card from their portfolio—their hand of cards—for the exhibition. The goal is to earn points, which happens when players choose your photo, or find out which one came from the curator. The winner of the game becomes the next Ansel Adams, a master landscape photographer. People of all ages have tested the game, from fifth-graders to adults. Zmak has visited schools as well as local bars and breweries, noting the outcome has been creative and fun. Amber Kohler was at The Brass Tap in Marina on Saturday, Nov. 9 trying out the game. “It’s nice when a game inspires your imagination and gets your mind thinking,” Kohler says, adding that playing board games can be way to socialize and learn about others. “But on this one, it inspires on so many different levels, because it’s so beautiful. All the pictures are works of art.” With the Z Photo Game, “you learn about how different people think, because we pick a theme, and everyone tries to tie into that, and you don’t know if the theme is based on the artwork or how the person’s thinking,” Kohler says. Zmak says this game could be a good asset in classrooms since it may help kids with abstract thinking and storytelling. It could also be a tool for teachers or school therapists if a child is experiencing challenges in or outside of school. “What was really interesting and unexpected is that within 10 minutes, I could tell you which kids’ parents were going through a divorce, or which kid was physically picked on on the playground,” Zmak says. Zmak is releasing his game on Nov. 19, and a Kickstarter fundraising campaign will be open online until Dec. 19. Zmak plans to develop expansion decks with other topics, including black-and-white images, other countries and themes suitable for adults. Z Photo Game launch party takes place 5-8pm Tuesday, Nov. 19. Springhill Suites, 215 10th St., Marina. Free to attend. Limited edition of the game available for purchase for $125-$400. Rolling the Film A local photographer combines his skills and hobbies to create an entertaining board game. By Celia Jiménez Steve Zmak (left) joins in on a game of Z Photo Game at The Brass Tap in Marina. Zmak created the board game after three years of development and testing among different age groups. “It inspires on so many different levels.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE CELIA JIMÉNEZ SHOP. EAT. STAY. LOCAL Fall in love with shopping small at your favorite Monterey County businesses this holiday season! SHOP SMALL Need ideas? Visit our Member Directory at montereychamber.com/list
www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 7
8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com news So-called “backyard breeding,” the breeding of cats or dogs with no regulation, is a problem the City of Seaside has faced for years. At least in part, that’s because the city hasn’t required a permit for breeders. On Nov. 7, the City Council passed an ordinance (which still requires another vote before becoming official) that would require breeders to have a permit. Currently, Police Chief Nick Borges says his department spends about $80,000 per year to offload unwanted animals to SPCA Monterey County, and expects that number will rise as the SPCA has increased its fee per animal from about $185 last year to $245 this year. The problem, Borges says, is that some breeders out to make a buck will abandon animals they can’t sell, and then the city foots the bill. Particularly in the case of dogs, Borges adds, inbreeding can cause animals to have serious health problems that can eventually require surgeries that cost thousands of dollars, which people aren’t willing to, or simply cannot, pay. Seaside Animal Control Officer Alex Kjellgren told the council Nov. 7 that the ordinance would allow him to have “another tool in my tool belt,” while also adding that it’s not a “silver bullet.” The new ordinance will require pet owners without a breeding permit or with a vet-approved medical exemption to get cats spayed or neutered at 5 months old, and dogs at 6 months old. Borges sees it as a way to help improve a longstanding problem for the city, which has thus far let it go unregulated. That is not just from a fiscal perspective, but also for the well-being of the animals in question, which are often found in a state of neglect. Balls Out Seaside to enact a spay-and-neuter ordinance to curb wanton breeding of cats and dogs. By David Schmalz The burning of a Chinese fishing village on the shores of Pacific Grove in 1906 continues to reverberate through the town’s history to the present—two years ago, P.G. City Council issued an official apology for the fire and racism endured by Chinese immigrants and their descendants. It’s a story known to locals, but it remains largely unknown beyond the Monterey Peninsula. A new film aims to change that. “The fact that the story was not well known was an injustice,” says Chelsea Tu, executive director of the nonprofit Monterey Waterkeeper. The organization partnered with the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History to secure a $2,000 grant from Oakland-based foundation Coastal Quest to create an interactive film by Santa Cruz filmmaker David Waller, which is paired with a school curriculum. The film, Chinese Fishing Villages of Monterey Bay, features the three villages that were founded at Point Lobos, Point Alones in P.G. and in Monterey. Monterey Waterkeeper works in part to protect the coastline with equity as an underlying value, Tu says. Amplifying the story of the economic and social contributions of the Chinese who pioneered the region’s fishing industry was a natural fit. Her own family immigrated to the U.S. from China when she was 10. They came by plane, but she felt a kinship with the Chinese immigrants who traveled by boat to Point Lobos around 1850. Like them, Tu’s family faced economic challenges as well as instances of racism. Museum staff were already developing a program with Greenfield Unified School District to bring students from inland Monterey County— many of them the children of immigrants themselves—to learn about the Chinese immigrants. Waller contacted Liese Murphree, the museum’s director of education and outreach, about making a film about the museum itself. Murphree suggested he make one about the fishing villages instead. Waller had never heard their stories, but a visit to the museum’s exhibit sparked his interest. “This, for me, is the story of a lifetime,” Waller says. “It is an important story not only of people from China, not only of California, America and the past, but the present and the future.” Waller worked with museum staff and direct descendants of the village, as well as other experts, to tell the story in a way easily understandable to classrooms of different levels. Using historical photographs, art and interviews, the film is broken into sections covering history and sharing stories of the immigrants as told by descendants. Short chapters explain why the immigrants made the harrowing journey by boat from China, the challenges they faced once in the U.S. and how they are remembered through the annual Walk of Remembrance, founded by the late Gerry Low-Sabado, a fifth-generation descendant who died in 2021. LowSabado’s legacy looms large in the film—her husband, Randy Sabado, speaks on her behalf. In addition, the film highlights the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, P.G.’s Feast of Lanterns and the contributions by Chinese immigrants to the fishing industry and science. A free screening of Chinese Fishing Villages of Monterey Bay takes place at 5:30pm Thursday, Nov. 21 at the P.G. Museum of Natural History, 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. 648-5716, pgmuseum.org. Liese Murphree, left, and Nate King of the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, shown in the museum’s Chinese fishing village exhibit, which is set to expand. Talking History P.G.’s Chinese fishing village story is powerfully told by its descendants in a new interactive film. By Pam Marino This Seaside resident, an adoptee from the SPCA Monterey County, was spayed before finding her forever home. Babs is a rarity; 70 percent of cats that enter local shelters are euthanized. “This, for me, is the story of a lifetime.” Daniel Dreifuss david schmalz
www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 9 santa paWS 'tis the season of joy Highway 1 at Munras Avenue, Monterey 831.373.2705 shopdelmonte.com Your AFRP Santa Paws package includes a portrait of your pet sitting with Santa taken by the professional photographers from Cherry Hill Photo. Price includes 1 Printed Photo and a QR Code to download the Digital Image (1). FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22 THRU SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $25 IN ADVANCE, $30 AT THE DOOR Appointments are strongly recommended. Walk-ins are based on availability. To make a reservation, please scan this code, or visit our website at www.animalfriendsrescue.org (831) 649-7830 | JACKSATPORTOLA.COM celebrate THANKSGIVING AT JACKS thursday, november 28 | 3pm to 9pm 3 courses | $65 STARTER (Select one) beet salad or lobster bisque ENTRÉE (Select one) prime rib, deistel turkey, fresh caught halibut or garden power bowl DESSERT (Select one) pecan pie, pumpkin pie or passion fruit créme brulee $65 per person, prime rib option +$10. Price excludes tax and 20% gratuity. Reservation recommended, call (831) 649-7870 or email jacks@portolahotel.com.
10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com After the Transportation Agency for Monterey County started construction on a project to widen Imjin Parkway in February, Doug Bilse, a traffic engineer at TAMC, noticed a marked change: More drivers were changing their westbound commutes to Highway 68. As a result—perhaps due to smartphone apps—commuters started getting off the highway in the Toro Park area and cutting through the neighborhood in order to shave off a few minutes, creating hellish conditions for the residents who live there. Suddenly, a quiet residential area had a line of cars, stop-and-go, blocking driveways every morning. In July, TAMC launched a pilot project to close off Torero Drive, where there’s an unsignaled southbound intersection onto Highway 68. It has improved the situation to a degree, but Bilse said on Oct. 23 at a TAMC board meeting the project is still being tweaked as data comes in. Potentially, Bilse says, the merge from two lanes to one—which is causing drivers to get off the highway and drive through neighborhoods—could be moved further east, toward Salinas, so that the slowdown happens before drivers have a chance to exit. Also on Oct. 23, the TAMC board approved spending up to $500,000 generated by Measure X—a countywide ballot measure approved in 2016—to install adaptive AI signals at nine intersections along Highway 68 to see how that can improve traffic flow. That will come in advance of potentially spending over $200 million to add roundabouts at those intersections. The installation is estimated to take up to a year. Bilse, a former aerospace engineer, says that in transportation, it’s unfortunately not about solving problems— they can only be mitigated. It’s ultimately about managing traffic: People are always going to go the way they think is fastest, and traffic flows follow accordingly. The job of traffic engineers is to figure out how to move cars as efficiently and safely as possible. Thousands of people commute to the Monterey Peninsula from the Salinas Valley and elsewhere for work, but the transportation system isn’t designed to manage the numbers of cars people are using to get there. While Bilse hopes more people will take the leap to do things like taking a vanpool to work, and for employers to allow a more flexible start time to take pressure off rush hour, he says TAMC is not trying disincentive driving, it’s about finding a balance. Concerned that cuts to prenatal care, among other changes at Alisal Health Center, for the Monterey County Health Clinic at Natividad, would negatively impact patient care, Dr. Cris Carillo and his colleagues began meeting with management. Finally, they met on Oct. 10 with a member of the Natividad Board of Trustees to plead their case, and thought they’d made progress. On Oct. 11, Carillo arrived at work, only to be met with a letter of termination. He was escorted out of the building. Carillo and his fellow physicians employed by the County are at-will employees, which means they can be terminated at any time. In February the physicians voted to unionize with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists. Negotiations for a contract that includes employment protections are ongoing. Carillo’s firing proved to be a tipping point. The UAPD filed a complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board contending the termination was illegal, and asking the board for injunctive relief for a speedier decision. On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the union went a step further by staging a halfday strike outside of the Monterey County Health Department offices in Salinas. About 50 employees and their supporters lined Natividad Road holding signs and chanting. “We believe the county’s intent in silencing [Carillo] was to silence everybody else, to send a message,” says Tim Jenkins, a UAPD senior representative. “Yes, we want him to go back to work, we want his 700 patients to have a doctor again, but more importantly, big picture, we want doctors to be able to speak up if things are not right.” The county issued statements that clinics were open during the strike and that there were no interruptions at Natividad hospital. “The County remains committed to negotiating in good faith and reaching an agreement on a foundational contract that addresses both the Union’s concerns while balancing the fiscal constraints and operational needs of the County,” one statement said. Drive Way TAMC is adapting to expedite the commute to the Monterey Peninsula. By David Schmalz news Following Up The Monterey County Health, Housing and Human Services Committee meets to hear a report on the county’s Covid-19 response. 10:30am Friday, Nov. 15. County Government Center, Monterey Room, 168 W. Alisal St., second floor, Salinas. Also via Zoom. Free. countyofmonterey. gov. Carmel Prepares Carmel Community Emergency Response Team with Carmel Police Department host an event on winter storm and earthquake preparedness. Attendees will receive guidance from Carmel Police, County Department of Emergency Management, National Weather Service, Monterey Fire, Cal Fire, CERT and more. 10-11am Saturday, Nov. 16. Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall, San Carlos Street at 9th Avenue, Carmel. Free. 624-6403, ci.carmel.ca.us/carmel-prepares. Hands-On Learning Monterey Peninsula College’s Family STEM Day features science, technology, engineering and math activities for all ages. 10am-3pm Saturday, Nov. 16. Monterey Peninsula College, 980 Fremont St., Monterey. Free. mpc.edu. On the Dais Monterey City Council meets and accepts public comment. Tell your elected officials what they are doing well and what you think they can do better. 4pm Tuesday, Nov. 19. Colton Hall, 580 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. 646-3799, monterey.gov. Public Service Salinas City Council meets and, as always, accepts public comment. 4pm Tuesday, Nov. 19. Salinas Rotunda, 200 Lincoln Ave., Salinas. Free. 758-7381, cityofsalinas.org. Holiday Healing Hospice Giving Foundation hosts a presentation about how to manage feelings of grief and loss during the holiday season. 5-6:30pm Tuesday, Nov. 19. El Gabilan Library community room, 1400 North Main St., Salinas. Free. hospicegiving. org/workshops. On Track Transportation Agency for Monterey County hosts an open house for people to learn more and comment on the proposed Pajaro-Watsonville train station. The agency is collecting public comments as part of the environmental review process. 6-8pm Wednesday, Nov. 20. Pajaro Middle School, 250 Salinas Road, Pajaro. Free. Comments accepted until 5pm Friday, Dec. 6. 855-9252801 (project code: 7342), bit.ly/ PajaroStation. Strike RX Natividad clinic doctors stage a half-day strike in the wake of the firing of one of their own. By Pam Marino Bumper-to-bumper traffic in the Toro Park neighborhood, as Highway 68 drivers look for time-savers. Residents report a pilot project closing off Torero Drive is helping. e-mail: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX Commuters started creating hellish conditions for residents. courtesy of TAMC
www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING Join us at The Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa for a bountiful buffet of seasonal favorites specially prepared by Chef Michael Rotondo on Thanksgiving Day, or take home one of our thoughtfully prepared dinners available for pickup throughout the week. Thanksgiving Day Buffet 1pm - 7pm 400 Cannery Row, Monterey montereyplazahotel.com Thanksgiving-To-Go Pick up 10am - 1pm For reservations and to order To-Go montereyplazahotel.com/dining/thanksgiving-dining $135 ADULTS $49 CHILDREN (Ages 6-13; free under 6) $365FOR A DINNER SERVING 6 GUESTS Order by Sunday, November 19 *Most vehicles. Cannot combine with any other offers. Some restrictions may apply. Additional diagnostics not included. Must present coupon at check-in. Limited time only. Cornucopia Community Market offers quality nutritious and environmentally safe products, free of artificial additives and preservatives. Your Local Health Food Store Open MOn-Fri 9aM-7pM Sat & Sun 10aM-6pM 831-625-1454 26135 Carmel Rancho Blvd, Carmel (at the mouth of Carmel Valley) Thanksgiving Blessings Your Source for Local and Organic Food for a Healthy Lifestyle • All Organic Produce • Healthy Groceries • Organic Meat • Bakery • Cheeses • Wines • Supplements • Bulk Goods • Body Care • Amazing Gifts
12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY November 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Before jurors convicted Joseph Sampognaro Jr. of first-degree murder of his father, Joseph Sampognaro Sr., they heard a lot of testimony. Prosecutors painted a picture of a strained relationship between the men and a motley crew of friends, girlfriends and acquaintances, several of whom, at the time of the shooting in 2020, were living in a barn off Laureles Grade. There was drug use, there was betrayal, there were jail stays. One man, Sage, who had lived in the barn, described watching Sampognaro’s transformation after he was released from jail less than a month before the shooting. He wanted to get sober, then overdosed and became even more paranoid than before. “The devil was in his eyes,” Sage said. While his attorneys had argued successfully before the trial to exclude evidence related to Sampognaro’s character, this testimony and much more was introduced. The fact that his lawyers from the Monterey County Public Defender’s Office, Thomas O’Keefe and Rachel Miller, did not object to it, forms the basis of a Nov. 5 decision by the Sixth District Court of Appeal vacating the 2021 murder conviction due to ineffective counsel. “A reasonably competent attorney, having already secured exclusion of character evidence, would object to the characterization of [Sampognaro] as a violent person who should not have been released from custody,” Judge Adrienne Grover wrote. Further complicating the case was the argument that Sampognaro’s counsel was conflicted. Miller, one of his two attorneys, had a brief sexual affair with the bailiff during the trial. The bailiff is an employee of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office—the same agency that investigated the case. “We conclude the relationship created a potential conflict of interest necessitating disclosure, which would not require reversal on its own but contributes to our lack of confidence in the verdict,” Grover wrote in the appellate decision. After the affair came to light, Sampognaro sought a new trial, but a Monterey County Superior Court judge denied that motion in 2022. The appellate decision is not yet final; prosecutors have two months to appeal to the Supreme Court or ask the Court of Appeal to reconsider. If the judgment is finalized, it will return to the county level, where Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon says they will again prosecute the murder case. Sampognaro is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder charge, plus 14 years for other counts. (Two counts related to leading deputies on a reckless, high-speed chase, were not overturned.) “Instead of the jury focusing on the evidence, it’s tempting to think, ‘Well the guy’s just a cold, violent person,’” says Jonathan Grossman, executive director of the Sixth District Appellate Program, who represented Sampognaro. Grossman also notes questions about the evidence: Some witnesses reported memory lapses due to drug use, and accounts contradicted each other. A gun was never located. Do Over Court of Appeal rolls back conviction against a man for murdering his father, based on ineffective legal counsel, including a courthouse affair. By Sara Rubin Joseph Sampognaro Jr. was convicted on April 26, 2021 for the 2020 murder of his father. He is shown here in Monterey County Superior Court at a 2022 hearing on his motion for a new trial. NEWS “The devil was in his eyes.” DANIEL DREIFUSS ♦ 3 Card Poker ♠ Century 21st No Bust Black Jack ♣ Texas Hold’em ♥ Baccarat FULL BAR! BLACKJACK BONUS POINTS PAYS UP TO $20,000 SMALL TOWN BIG PAYOUTS! 1-800-Gambler • Gega-003846, Gega-Gega-003703, Gega-000889 Gega-000891 Gega-002838 The Marina Club Casino ensures the safety and security of all guests and team members at all times, while providing exceptional service. 204 Carmel Ave. Marina 831-384-0925 casinomonterey.com ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ Just minutes from Downtown Monterey Where Monterey Comes To Play ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES Stop By To Shop And Find Your Vintage Treasure OVER 100 DEALERS 21,000 SQUARE FEET The Largest Antiques and Collectibles Mall on the Central Coast 471 WAVE STREET MONTEREY (831) 655-0264 P M canneryrowantiquemall.com Open Daily 11am-6pm ’24 Voted Monterey County's Best Antique Shop
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14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com It was the dogs that had many residents on Cielo Vista, in the Monte Verde neighborhood of Monterey, on edge. Dogs belonging to Leslie Flores and his sons kept escaping from the yard and attacking other dogs from 2011 to 2018. The stories neighbors told in sworn statements are harrowing. In one instance in 2018, a woman’s puppy was mauled twice by a young mastiff, the second time needing extensive surgery after the woman and neighbors beat the mastiff with implements to try and get it to stop. The mastiff was euthanized. Flores was admonished or cited multiple times—in January 2019 he promised to keep his two mastiffs, Adrien and Capo, indoors or within an enclosure and muzzled out in public. The next year the mastiffs attacked a woman and her two dogs. Again, neighbors tried in vain to stop the mastiffs. The woman’s toy poodle was killed, the other dog suffered serious injuries and their owner was bitten. A Monterey County Superior Court judge determined in a civil hearing that Adrien and Capo were vicious and would be euthanized. Flores and his sons were told they could not own dogs or possess dogs on their properties for three years. Less than a year later, someone spied Flores in his driveway with a German shepherd puppy and reported it to police. The dogs are just one small part of Flores’ story. On Oct. 18, Flores, 59, pleaded no contest to felony and misdemeanor charges that include possession of a weapon, reckless evading of an officer, resisting an officer and assault likely to cause great bodily injury and others, stemming from events that have taken place over the last two-and-a-half years. He could face up to seven years and eight months in prison. Flores is currently in Monterey County Jail awaiting sentencing. Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Chris Puck says he’s prosecuted more serious cases but none have attracted community attention than this one. The DA’s office has been contacted by nervous neighbors, city officials and the Monterey Police Department urging the maximum sentence for Flores. In an unusually long pre-sentencing document, 160 pages, filed by Puck on Nov. 8, he uses the dogs as just one example of how Flores disregards laws and court orders. He also rebuts arguments by Flores that his issues are really due to drug addiction and what he needs is treatment, not prison. Puck’s argument to Judge Andrew Liu: This isn’t about drug dependency, it’s about flagrant disrespect for the law. “The last two years are not an anomaly. It’s not an exception to the rule. It’s who he is and there’s nothing that a residential drug treatment program can rehabilitate,” Puck says. As for the dogs, they’re relevant, Puck says, because “it shows a continued disregard of court orders, and someone got hurt because of it.” According to Monterey Police Chief David Hober in a letter to Liu, the MPD’s encounters with Flores go back as far as January 2002, when he was 36. Hober lists 48, but says there are more than 120 documented contacts with Flores in Monterey and over 60 with other law enforcement agencies. Many of the arrests Hober chronicles were for public intoxication, but they also include fighting in public, vandalism, trespassing, drug possession, driving on a suspended license and driving under the influence. “Flores’ behavior has instilled fear and concern in the community, with his criminal conduct and threatening behavior towards community members and Monterey police officers,” Hober wrote. Arrests, it should be noted, are not convictions. Puck stated to Liu that for every conviction, “there appear to be multiple cases dismissed as a condition of the plea.” After citing an example of how in one case Flores was convicted of one charge after a few others were dismissed as part of a global plea that encompasses others, a common practice, Puck called it “quite the Costco bulk discount that only recidivists enjoy.” Flores’ first felony conviction to which he pleaded no contest in October stemmed from an altercation on March 18, 2022 that he got into with a bouncer on the night of St. Patrick’s Day after being denied entry into a downtown Monterey bar. More arrests followed over two years. After he didn’t show up for court in February, he evaded arrest twice, losing Monterey officers as he sped through neighborhoods. They finally caught up with him at his house on Cielo Vista on July 3. He holed himself up inside the house and MPD called in other agencies for assistance. Around 30 officials responded from eight agencies; after a search of the house, they couldn’t find him. It turned out Flores was literally in a hole under the house. Officials knew he had a hiding place, but discovered Flores had tunneled beyond that, to a six-foot hole. Police used a chainsaw to extricate him and take him into custody. He’s been in Monterey County Jail ever since. Meanwhile, Flores has been on the City of Monterey’s radar for a different reason. He’s a landlord—he owns multiple properties reportedly inherited from his parents—who let one of his apartment complexes on Larkin Street fall into disrepair. According to a letter to Liu from Chief Building Official Lori Williamson, her team has initiated seven different code compliance cases encompassing problems like no heat, no hot water, clogged sewer lines, mold issues, unsafe wiring and more. Flores refused to do the work city officials required to come up to code, and in February, they began proceedings to put the property into receivership, which would allow the City to make repairs then place a lien on the property to be repaid when it sells in the future. The court named a receiver, who worked over months helping remaining tenants with relocation costs. Repair plans are in the works. Flores was scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Nov. 15, but after Puck’s 160-page statement was filed with the court on Nov. 8, along with a 60-page probation report, Flores’ attorney, Lawrence Biegel, requested a continuance to give him time to respond. He’s looking for at least a couple of weeks to review the lengthy arguments. As Flores has done in the past, he’s asking to be placed in a residential drug treatment program for one year instead of prison. To that, Puck wrote in his filing: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Puck detailed how Flores didn’t show up in court in 2023, claiming to be in a program that turned out to be nonexistent. In January, he avoided jail by asking to be released to a drug program employee for transport to a Southern California facility. A self-identified employee turned out to be a tenant of Flores’—and not a real employee of the program. Even if Flores is sentenced to prison, he would probably only serve three years on the felony assault conviction, and then be eligible for parole, Puck says. Prosecutors blame Proposition 57, passed by voters in 2016, that allows parole for nonviolent felons. Flores’ remaining charges are considered nonviolent. Plea Dealing The law catches up with a Monterey man who awaits sentencing on the heels of a long record. By Pam Marino news Leslie Flores in Monterey County Superior Court on July 19, after his arrest on July 4 when police found him in a hole under his Monterey house. “Flores’ behavior has instilled fear and concern in the community.” Daniel Dreifuss
www.montereycountynow.com NOVEMBER 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 SUNSET CENTER, CARMEL MONTEREYSYMPHONY.ORG NOVEMBER 16 & 17, 2024 Gather with your friends and family around the Sea Root table for our lavish Thanksgiving buffet. Our culinary team will prepare a complete holiday experience, from an array of salads and artisanal breads to our carving board of free-range roasted Diestel turkey and honey-baked ham. A hot line will feature specialty items such as pan-roasted salmon, butternut squash soup, sweet potato mash, and a kids corner. $84 ADULTS, $39 CHILDREN 6-12, CHILDREN 5 AND UNDER FREE RESERVATIONS 831-657-6588 OR VISIT OPENTABLE.COM HYATT REGENCY MONTEREY HOTEL AND SPA 1 OLD GOLF COURSE RD, MONTEREY, CA 93940 NOVEMBER 28 1pm – 7pm Live Music 2pm – 6pm Thanks Giving Buffet
16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY november 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com After the Election We are all bleary-eyed and wishing for a different result but you are right, we all need to be more engaged in what happens in our government (“After the post-election daze wears off, it’s time to get to work,” posted Nov. 6). I plan to attend more meetings and learn more about what is happening around me. I am awake now. Willa Sturpat | via email I find you so incredibly prejudiced I cannot believe a word you say anymore. I don’t care whose side you were on, the things you have said are just ridiculous. Vonne Battistini | via email I am one of those millions of Americans who was so utterly devastated. The day after the election, I contemplated calling out sick from work just to spend the day crying. I really thought our country would make history by electing the first woman president. I agree with Windsor Lindor about a lack of civic education, because I have seen it with many of my friends and acquaintances, and they are easily manipulated because they don’t know, and believe everything they are told. Trump has cultivated a loyal cult of personality. People love him or secretly like him because he says everything they can’t say or do. I am already involved in my community, and I will continue my involvement in those ways that I can, hopefully making a difference. I’m praying the next four years won’t be as bad as I imagine, but if they are, I’m optimistic that our state will fight for our rights, and that is helping me get to sleep at night. Tiffinie Meyer | Seaside A biased and uneducated and irresponsible review of the presidential election. Susie Driscoll | via email From the article (“Election Day is just a starting point. Where do we go from here?” Nov. 7-13): “How we begin to reconcile with each other, and how people begin to reconcile with institutions and systems they feel betrayed by, is an important and necessary step.” This is nice sentiment, but Trump built all three of his campaigns on division and hatred of immigrants and Democrats. If you take that away from them, they would deflate into near nothingness. Hence, they will fight to maintain it. The saddest thing is that Trump, like all demagogues, fooled a large amount of the working class into voting for him. The primary hope to draw from this is that after a couple of years of Trump’s major destruction and further exploitation of the working class, they will wake up and realize that Trump never did anything for them and never will. When Trump loses the working class, he will be through—unless he has turned America into a dictatorship before then. Democrats desperately need to not learn the wrong lessons from this defeat. If the Democratic Party does not reform itself and eliminate the purchased influence of the corporations and super-rich, the Democrats may never win again. Corruption is America’s biggest enemy. John Thomas | Salinas right size Measure Z was a loser from the start (“A political newcomer bests two P.G. council incumbents; Nick Smith takes first in mayor’s race,” posted Nov. 5). Despite the active promotion by several council members, voters still concluded that not enough thought had been given to the issue. There are other ways than litigation or reducing representation to meet the requirement of equal representation. Time for the new council and mayor to get to work. Tom Hicks | Pacific Grove School Choice Pacific Grove dodged a bullet (“Mike Wachs wins a seat on the Pacific Grove Union School District Board over Marie Hunter,” posted Nov. 7). Nadja Mark | Pacific Grove Voting works Thank you, poll workers! (“In a time of intense scrutiny, poll workers get training to ensure the election is fair and safe,” Oct. 31-Nov. 6.) Madi Frazier | via social media And looking ahead… We need more people like him to uncover the corruption and entitlement of some of these people who hold seats in our city and county (“A recall effort emerges against midterm Salinas City Councilmember Andrew Sandoval,” Nov. 7-13). Andrew is not the bad guy here, he’s just the one that is shedding light on what has been in the dark for years. Sophia Cortez | Salinas Sucked Dry Anyone who follows the water usage closely for the past three years knows our consumption is way down because of reduced tourism activities during the post-Covid years (“The Peninsula’s water usage dips to its lowest level in nearly 50 years,” posted Nov. 7). In fact, we have three new major hotels coming online in the next few years, two in Pacific Grove and one in Sand City, plus large residential developments along Garden Road in Monterey. And two other large sites are converting to residential uses. We are still in a water constricted environment until such time as we place the proposed California American Water desal plant online. The best guestimate is early 2028. Tom Rowley | Monterey Your summary related to the [ceaseand-desist order] was very insightful, clear and straightforward. Thank you. Michael Baer | San Jose Art of the People I was happy to read about Warren Chang (“Visuals: Warren Chang’s ‘Salinas River at Dusk Study,’” Oct. 31-Nov. 6). He is one of the finest painters in the entire Central Coast. He is also one of the area’s kindest and gentlest souls. The honor and respect he shows toward farmworkers has always impressed me. He is both a masterful technician and an insightful and sensitive human being. I love most every genre of creative expression, but I count Warren Chang up near the top. Greg Furey | Marina Letters • CommentsOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
www.montereycountynow.com november 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 Compared to other obligations and privileges that the American government bestows upon us—getting a passport, serving on a jury, filing taxes—voting in California is one of the single easiest things to do. Ballots now automatically arrive in your mailbox, even if you prefer to vote in person. Postage is prepaid. As long as your ballot is postmarked by Election Day (this year, Nov. 5), it will still be counted as long as it is delivered within a week. And you can track all of this on an app, choosing to receive a text message or an email when your ballot has been processed. So we’ve ruled out convenience as a factor in not voting. This year’s elections brought a host of decisions locally and regionally and statewide to voters—and two wildly divergent candidates for president of the United States of America. And yet, as of the latest report from Monterey County Elections, 3:42pm on Friday, Nov. 8, turnout was just 49.2 percent of registered voters in Monterey County. That means some 109,000 registered voters did not cast a vote this year. (That number is likely to trickle up, but not by much.) Monterey County’s disappointing turnout is worse than our neighboring counties of Santa Cruz, with 74.8-percent turnout; San Benito, with 63.7 percent; and San Luis Obispo County, which reports 54 percent as of Nov. 8. It’s also looking worse than Monterey County did in the last two presidential elections, even knowing more ballots will be added to the count. In 2020, turnout was 80.2 percent; in 2016, it was 73.8 percent. I spoke to one young voter, Diego Doust, who turned 18 in August and voted this year in his first-ever opportunity to do so. He didn’t think much of it, he says—registering was so easy that he doesn’t even remember doing it (maybe at the DMV). He cast his presidential vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, despite knowing she had no real shot at winning and his serious misgivings about Donald Trump and Republicans in general. He understood his first presidential vote ever to be something of a protest vote, knowing it wouldn’t actually tip the scales. “I don’t really like the Electoral College. It makes it harder for people to have a say in democracy,” says Doust, a high school senior at Robert Louis Stevenson School who lives in Carmel. “If I felt my vote was going to be reflected in the presidential race, I would’ve voted for [Kamala Harris].” His primary motivator, more than the presidential election, was California’s Proposition 6, which would have eliminated a constitutional provision allowing forced labor of prison inmates. Prop. 6 was a bust at the polls; as of Nov. 12, it was losing by over 839,000 votes, a 6-point margin. Doust is more surprised (so am I) that Prop. 6 lost than he is by Trump’s decisive presidential victory. I also spoke to a longtime Trump supporter, Thomas Gowing of Salinas, who is also unsurprised that Trump won. “It happened for a reason—it happened for a good reason,” he says. “I think the American people were looking at one of two things: their pocketbook, and crime on the border. I wouldn’t go and have a beer with [Trump], but his policies address that better.” Gowing, 75, has lived in Monterey County going on 50 years and has seen far more elections than Doust. On the pocketbook topic, he says he had to come out of retirement to drive a limo to support himself—a story many older Americans will relate to, even though economists widely expect Trump’s economic promises to backfire. On election night, I met a family of four from Seaside who got involved in politics for the first time ever this year, and they joined the watch party at the Monterey County Democratic Party’s Center for Change before the results came in. David Torres and Sharmisa Taylor and their two teenage children, both part of the LGBTQ+ community, had canvassed in Salinas to support Chris Barrera for mayor and Kamala Harris for president. I checked back in with Torres after the election, in which his local and presidential candidates were walloped. “It was a shock. I felt like I got sucker punched in the gut,” he says. “But we will all go back out and do this again. We will all go back out there. You get knocked down, you don’t stay down.” Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Count On It One of the big disappointments of Election Day is low turnout. By Sara Rubin Status Quo…Government agencies send plenty of press releases by email, announcing new hires, upcoming meetings and the like. In most cases, the agencies avoid politics, as things can get sticky—for example, state law prohibits public employees from using government resources for campaign activities. So a Nov. 7 press release from the City of Seaside, which announced that “projected winners [are] now emerging in key leadership positions” following election results, left Squid scratching Squid’s head. It noted that the three incumbents were all leading their races—just facts, no big deal. But it went on to not-so-subtly weigh in. Mayor Ian Oglesby’s vote count, it read, indicated “confidence in his pursuit of Seaside’s vision.” It included a statement from interim City Manager Craig Malin, who said the projected results “bode well” for the upcoming task of hiring a permanent city manager—“If the preliminary results hold, city manager candidates will know they will be part of an excellent team,” he said. Squid wonders what would have happened if a challenger upset one of the incumbents. Would the city still consider it an “excellent team”? Squid is also not sure about the city’s statement that the results reflect voters’ “passion for inclusion, growth and progress”—it sounds like the same ol’, same ol’ is in Seaside’s near future. Do Over…Squid lives and dies by the ocean food chain and also, in Squid’s line of work, by deadlines. Apparently not the case for Citizens Supporting the Recall of Andrew Sandoval, a group attempting to remove the Salinas District 5 councilmember who is two years into a four-year term. The group claims they gathered 115 signatures on their Notice of Intention to Circulate a Recall Petition against Sandoval, but they missed their first deadline—whoopsies! Per Election Code, that means a complete do-over. As City Clerk Patricia Barajas notified recall proponent Tyler Burrola on Nov. 8: “As a result of the deficiency noted above the recall efforts must start over.” Burrola’s petition starts off with damning words about the whole council: “Salinas is suffering a leadership crisis from the chaos created by our City Council. The ringleader of this chaos is Councilmember Andrew Sandoval.” Whether or not you view it as chaos—compared to the feeding frenzies that take place in Squid’s watery lair, it all seems rather tame—Squid wonders what will happen for recall effort 2.0. The results of the Nov. 5 election mean Sandoval will find himself an odd man out, rather than aligned with allies. Maybe that means more “chaos,” maybe it means less, only time will tell. But to end the deadline chaos, maybe someone on the committee should get a calendar. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “It makes it harder for people to have a say in democracy.” Send Squid a tip: squid@montereycountynow.com
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