18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 3-9, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com POWERED UP Thank you to David Schmalz and the Weekly for writing and publishing a comprehensive and balanced account of the history and future of Moss Landing battery storage systems (“The Vistra fire in Moss Landing caught everyone by surprise. What can we learn from it?” March 27-April 2). I value such deep dives into issues that affect us, and how it demonstrates you care that we are informed. Sharon Miller | Pacific Grove This is a great article. Gives the best summary I’ve read so far. Jeff Markham | Marina Thank you for this important, timely information, much appreciated. Debby Majors-Degnan | Monterey AT THE ROOTS Love Dan and Amy [Sheehan] (“After a failed sale of Cali Roots to a big producer, the founder sues, alleging fraud,” March 27-April 2). They have been so great for this community and for the music. Hoping for a successful conclusion to this story. Shawn Adams | Monterey The festival sucks now anyways. It lost its roots vibe and is all commercial. Sara Gracia | Salinas I love Cali Roots and am grateful for the community work this couple has put in. They sponsor local vendors, local nonprofits. It’s a whole community vibe! It’s a ton of work, could you do it? Enjoy it while it’s here as nothing lasts forever. Octavia Jolley | San Francisco LEAD BY EXAMPLE He has completely transformed this school district for the better! (“Monterey Peninsula Unified School District’s superintendent rescinds resignation,” posted March 31.) Hai Sasha Winter | via social media WTF?! I was looking forward to a new school year and all four years of high school without him! Ashley Pilling-Miller | via social media PK Diffenbaugh is the kind of leader a community dreams about having. He arrived at a time when our district was in disarray and brought together instructional leaders to create a shared vision that has fundamentally changed the way education is delivered on the Monterey Peninsula. Serving on the school board for five years with PK was a master class in leadership. PK Diffenbaugh is the best of the best, and we are so incredibly lucky that he has chosen to invest his career here at MPUSD. Wendy Root Askew | Marina BY THE NUMBERS Congratulations and thank you for the excellent graphing and breakdown of where certain federal dollars go in Monterey County (“As leaders in Washington take a sledgehammer to federal funding, here’s a look at local expenditures,” March 20-26). Looks like many hands helped with this research and we consider this issue a “keeper” indeed. If you’re looking for more work, it would be interesting to see how many of these current recipients of federal tax dollars are among those on the chopping block—from education to healthcare services, not to mention military spending which clearly leads the pack for use of federal dollars in our county. Again, thank you for this tremendous piece of journalism! Bill Monning | Carmel “Waste, fraud and abuse” is a phrase we have been hearing for a long time. What it is generally intended to mean is that the federal government is loaded with lazy nincompoops who do nothing useful, and if we only got rid of them our budget deficit would disappear. But it is a lie, and has never had a wit of evidence to back it up. It has taken on the aura of great truth only because it has been repeated so often for so long. And now an unelected billionaire bureaucrat with radical views is using this falsehood to justify wreaking havoc on the federal government. We will soon find out the damage done and that the government is more loaded with good people doing good work than this mythological waste: when the Social Security checks are delayed, when contaminated food gets into our system, when polluters return to polluting, when your national park visit is second-rate due to a lack of rangers. Oh, and the real source of our budget deficit all along has been the numerous tax breaks to the rich. John Zimmerman | Pacific Grove TACO TIME I will be among the first to welcome their return (“Mi Tierra, a Seaside (and taco lovers’) institution, is finally set to reopen in late May or June,” posted March 27). We very much missed their barbacoa, their al pastor, their carnitas, and their chicharron con carne. We go for the dining, and linger to do grocery shopping. Hans Ongchua | Marina Can’t wait for the burritos again! Dr. Wendy Wong | Monterey The building looks fantastic. I’ll be first in line to get my favorite al pastor. Eric Palmer Sr. | Monterey LOLZ Marvelous edition!! (“The historical importance of April 1 calls for a special newsletter edition,” posted April 1.) I especially like the casino article (“Anticipation is high as construction begins on what will be the world’s largest casino”). The casserole article is delightful (“In bid for a third Michelin star, Aubergine chef decides to focus on home-style cooking”). All in all a grand April 1 edition. Thanks for an early-morning belly laugh! Jaci Pappas | Big Sur Oh my god! (“A new scented candle—Marina Wind—brings the scent of compost to homes,” posted April 1.) “Awful,” Butz says, “but it’s layered. It’s truly an olfactory journey of revulsion.” I love all of these stories today! Lisa Bernardi | Seaside CORRECTION A Spin column (“Sometimes, the line between protected speech and violence grows thin,” Feb. 27-March 5) identified Brian Baughn as an associate of Joe Cubbage. According to Baughn, he is not an associate. They do communicate via text message. 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.
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