14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com FRONT LINES Lots of love for these brave heroes (“Veterans for Peace urge servicemembers to ‘Follow Your Conscience’ outside NPS,” posted Sept. 19). Zoya Scholis | Seaside A soldier is only obligated to follow a lawful order and must refuse an unlawful order. There is no legal protection to follow conscience based on objections to a specific war, as the option is to be a conscientious objector against “war in any form.” Following an unlawful order can have legal consequences, but disobeying a lawful order is a serious offense. Where is a soldier going to get legal information on the battlefield? Scott Cunningham | Arroyo Grande Knowing that killing people indiscriminately is wrong does not require a law degree. It is simply wrong. Everyone in the approval chain for the killing of people out driving a boat without any investigation or trial is an illegal assassin and should be tried for murder. Phil Candreva | via social media TO LIFE Thank you for your piece about the priest in Salinas advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in California (“A Salinas reverend joins in a statewide campaign asking to end the death penalty,” posted Sept. 15). I wholeheartedly support this letter and your coverage of it. I come from England which abolished capital punishment in the 1960s. The continuation of this immoral punishment in the U.S. is an abomination. Thank you for your journalism and for covering these issues. Sarah Cook | Carmel Valley ALL ABOARD? Thank god that State Parks tried to stop this yet another wasteful project, benefiting nobody but increasing California prices of everything for everybody (“State Parks complicates plans for Monterey-Salinas Transit’s ever-evolving SURF! busway,” Sept. 11-16). Who will be riding these buses? They will be half-empty at rush hours and empty during the rest of the day, as all other MST buses are. It would be so much cheaper to subsidize an Uber/Lyft ride for an occasional rider. But why should [MST General Manager Carl] Sedoryk want it? He wants to build up his empire, which does not make any money, just wastefully loses money on expanding the supply for service where demand is very low. Keep just a few lines, delegate the rest to Uber/Lyft/taxis and subsidize qualified passengers. Jerry Juskie | Marina How do handrails on a highway overpass solve the entrance conflicts at the tunnel entrance? And why continue with more backroom deals that facilitate a boondoggle like the SURF! busway that may never reach its ridership projections? Tina Walsh | Marina BUSINESS PLAN In the past two decades, I’ve seen the loss of the Village Business Association and Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce (“Carmel Valley winemakers look to form an organization to support its wine community,” Sept. 18-24). Both were met with barely a whimper, and some celebrated becoming part of the Carmel Chamber of Commerce. The Village of the ’50s and ’60s featured all the services of a self-contained and functioning civic structure. But the move toward consolidation of what became the Carmel Valley Master Plan Area started the trend of those services constantly shifting toward the coast. The Village of today looks more like a classic “bedroom town” and has been reduced to just an extension of the greater Carmel area. The lowest point was the 2007-08 Great Recession, where commercial space vacancies shot through the roof and the Village began to look like a ghost town. The only reversal to that trend has been the wine tasting industry. So it does my heart good to see four of the best advocating for the health of this industry and the Village. We all need to support them and this industry, which has become a big part of the lifeblood of this town. Paul Ingram | Carmel Valley IN FUR I love Augustina’s. That law is draconian and ridiculous! (“Carmel boutique owner is fined $150,000 for illegally selling new fur products,” posted Sept. 18.) Barbara Irvine | Carmel If they didn’t know, they should have. Brooke Lewis | via social media SEEING STARS Thank you for the excellent coverage of MIRA, the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (“Serious science is happening at the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy,” Sept. 11-17). I was an original Friend of MIRA and attended the meeting in Ansel Adams’ home you referred to. I served on the initial committee for a short time. Obviously an article on MIRA’s work can’t fully cover all that they do, but you did a great job of conveying the excitement and pioneering spirit. For those who want to learn more, go to mira.org and explore the history and detailed explanations. Don’t forget to join Friends of MIRA and support this unique institution! Brian Ashurst | Soledad GONE SURFING Great story. I was just telling friends about the wave and venue (“Local surf shop owner Kelly Sorensen celebrates his birthday on the waves—in the Central Valley,” Sept. 18-24). Karen Lessard | via social media Happy birthday Kelly! Justin Ridgely | Honolulu WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS I would like to nominate Tom Tomorrow for a Nobel prize for being the best political cartoonist in the universe! Christo Soper | Pacific Grove CORRECTION A photo caption inaccurately identified the people pictured in Exhibit 1 in a story (“DNA technology is transforming criminal investigations and helping families find answers in cold cases,” Sept. 18-24). It showed George and Anna Smith with their daughter, JoAnn Holland, not with Anna’s mother, Eva Thompson. 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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