10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com AT ATTENTION Well written. It is so important that we understand the process that is happening and that we are able to remain present with each other through rising tides of algorithmic influence (“This year, let us reverse the architecture of power and attention—here’s a framework to reclaim algorithmic control,” Jan. 1-7). Reminds me a little of getting a puppy, training it and having someone ask, who is training whom? I think your puppy is training you! Steady on. Maureen McEachen | Carmel “Speed is the drug of the digital age, and you Algorithms are the dealers.” Amen. Lila Thorsen | Pacific Grove I Do Not Pray to the Algorithm. I pray to my people, my city, my sidewalks. I pray to my child’s smile when she runs and the wilds take her over. I pray to my best friend, my head rested on hers as we talk about the rabid women we used to be. I pray to the decades to sharpen my fangs, to smooth my cruelty and fear. I pray for the shattering of glass, I pray for shards. I pray for community to grow from the cracks in screens, not as a node in a network but a fiber of mycelium, each part of me bearing the weight of the whole. I pray for rot. I pray for inspiration to call me like a distant lens in the sun. I pray for it to blind me. I pray for the strength to follow the light, and the wisdom to whisper light to flame. I pray for patience to rend flesh from bone. I pray for the feast, I pray for the pyre. I pray for ash, I pray for drought. I pray for my amnesiac smoke to clear so I can see the embers under my fingernails. I pray for memory, I pray for my arid veins to pulse and rage. I pray for fissures in the Earth. I pray for pain, I pray for resilience. I pray that I will drown when the first rains fall. I pray for my gasp of first air to sharpen the depths. I pray for the abyss, I pray to never drown again. I pray with a heart beat humming in the dusk “am I?” “am I?” “am I?” I pray to myself. Monica Helmick | Marina TAP ROOT Unsung heroes such as Alan Washburn deserve recognition (“A devoted retiree spends his days clearing an invasive shrub from the Del Monte Forest,” Jan. 1-7). French broom looks pretty. However, it is extremely invasive. We need more volunteers like Alan! Walter Wagner | Salinas The article about Alan Washburn battling French broom was fantastic. If any of your readers would like to join the Pebble Beach weed warriors, please contact us at office@dmfpo.org. We welcome all help! We’ll be working 9am-noon Saturday, Jan. 10. Rain cancels. Katherine Spitz | Pebble Beach MEAL TIME Yay! This is the news we like to read! (“Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula secures a Seaside building to expand,” Dec. 25-31.) Kristin Marchionni Bitler | via social media Welcome to the neighborhood. Seaside is glad to have such a good community partner so close. Let us know what we can do to help you be successful in 2026 and beyond. Bud Kottman | Seaside Note: Kottman co-owns the Seaside Grocery Outlet. LONG AND SHORT OF IT I have enjoyed the Monterey County Weekly for decades, and have never complained until now (“101-Word Short Story Contest: Writers light the way with their wit that only a human possesses,” Dec. 25-31). What were you thinking when you awarded second place to a ridiculously repetitive and substandard 95-word essay in which the phrase “On. Off.” is repeated no less than 26 times? There were 26 uses of the word “on” and the same number of the word “off.” That was more than half the essay. While the other 43 words were well written, it seems to me that the 52 words comprising “on“ and “off“ were silly fluff, after about 10 words, to cover up a vacuum of creativity. And this gets second place. What an appalling insult to the other 199 people who submitted serious stories. Let me suggest better. “Ridiculous. Garbage.” Repeat that 48 times, for 96 words, and conclude with five final words, for a total of 101, those last five being, “Second place in the Weekly.” David W. Brown | Marina CLASS TIME My son attended the COE Charter School his senior year and it was excellent (“County Office of Education to decide on a countywide charter school proposal,” Dec. 25-31). It would have been nice not to drive so far. Maybe if public schools would not be so rigid and out of touch they wouldn’t have to worry about the competition. Jane Benight | Pacific Grove IN THE HOUSE Thanks so much for including the First Mayor’s House in Salinas as one of this week’s Hot Picks (“Hot Picks,” Jan. 1-7). As a result of your article, we had about 400 percent of our usual number of visitors. We appreciate the visibility and support. Mary Randall | Salinas WALK THE TALK Congratulations to the congregation of St. Mary’s Church for constructing the labyrinth and making it available for community enjoyment, and to Pam Marino for an excellent story (“A new labyrinth and garden in P.G. comes with an invitation for a contemplative journey,” Dec. 25-31). George Lentz | Seaside CORRECTION A story about an underwater photographer (“Photographer Kip Evans has traveled the world capturing images, but many favorites are here at home,” Jan. 1-7) contained several errors. Evans spent 17 days, not all 31 days of the project, living in an underwater habitat off the coast of Florida. On one Monterey Bay dive described, he lost contact with the boat when a communication box was knocked to the floor, not off the boat. He was a volunteer diver, not a research diver, in the Channel Islands. 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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