AltWeeklies Wire
Community Members, Police Struggle for Answers After 26th Homicide in Salinasnew
Jose Espinoza's neighbor recalls jumping out of bed when shots rang out at 5:30am on his north Salinas street. He heard the 25-year-old scream and was there alongside Espinoza's mother and sister feeling for a pulse.
Monterey County Weekly |
Zachary Stahl |
12-10-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Local Rainwater Guru Makes Home Water Harvesting Easynew
Roger Manley wants to help locals tap the precious liquid running off our roofs. Manley gave a broad overview of the water limitations facing the Monterey Peninsula, but he showed workshop participants how to make their own rainwater harvesting barrels for about $30 each.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
12-10-2009 |
Environment
First-Time Homebuyers Are Swooping in on the Monterey Peninsula Foreclosure Boomnew
This is the flip side of the national economic meltdown. For the first time in recent memory, real estate bargains are fairly easy to come by in the Monterey Peninsula.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
05-07-2009 |
Housing & Development
Activist Brings a Girl Home from Gaza to Restore Her Sightnew
Six-year-old Hadil was born with congenital deformities, but she can no longer travel through Gaza's tightened borders to hospitals where doctors had begun a series of operations on her eyes. Hanan Shawar convinced Hadil's parents to let her bring the girl back to the United States for reconstructive surgery.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
03-19-2009 |
War
Nation’s Richest Winemaker Builds County’s Biggest Solar Systemnew
Sunshine has been turning grapes into raisins for thousands of years. Now, it’s turning them into wine.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
02-19-2009 |
Business & Labor
Tags: solar energy, Constellation Wines
Endangered Birds Versus Green Energy in the Salinas Valleynew
The owner of a Monterey County winery would have been required to hire an ornithologist for three years to monitor bird deaths from his proposed wind turbines.
Monterey County Weekly |
Zachary Stahl |
02-19-2009 |
Environment
As a California Town Becomes More Affordable, Community Work Flourishesnew
Compared to its neighbors, Seaside, California isn't known for lefty politics, tree-hugging or indie art. But Seaside has seen a resurgence of grassroots community building -- a sort of Renaissance for a city that has struggled to define itself.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
02-05-2009 |
Policy Issues
Carmel Valley Supporters Say Pro-Development Interests Behind Legal Challengenew
An attorney with questionable past ties to a southern California campaign contribution scandal has filed a lawsuit intended to stop the incorporation of Carmel Valley.
Monterey County Weekly |
Jessica Lyons |
01-22-2009 |
Housing & Development
Salinas Calls In the Big Guns to Quell Rash of Gang Violencenew
Reacting to a stark spike in shootings that has left six people dead in the past two weeks, Salinas leaders brought in the uniformed cavalry and elevated their peace-building rhetoric. But the beefed-up patrols will likely only quiet gunfire temporarily.
Monterey County Weekly |
Zachary Stahl |
01-22-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Edward James Olmos Schools Salinas on Reaching Gang Membersnew
Emmy-winning actor Edward James Olmos delivered a sweeping and powerful address in Salinas, from breaking down the allure and definition of gangs to offering practical solutions to the Monterey County’s number one crime problem.
Monterey County Weekly |
Zachary Stahl |
01-22-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Is the Ocean a Victim of Global Warming?new
Scientists are finally in consensus about the reality of global warming, but the common ground ends at the ocean’s edge. I've spoken with some of the best marine scientists on this coast of the Pacific, chased CO2 through three countries, but the disagreement among researchers has only left my mental waters murkier.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
11-14-2008 |
Environment
A Look at the Ecological Impacts of the Big Sur Wildfiresnew
Big Sur enthusiasts may be horrified to see the wildfires turn postcard-quality forests into black moonscapes. But scientists remind us that fire is a critical ingredient in Big Sur's fire-adapted beauty, and the ecological challenges arise less from the flames than from human meddling. As long as the wildfires are burning, their precise ecological impacts will be shrouded in smoke -- but experts do have a sense of how the flames will affect non-human life in Big Sur.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
07-11-2008 |
Disasters
Saving Birds from Burning in Big Surnew
As the wildfire in Big Sur carpeted more and more of the region's steep coastal mountains, the biologists of Ventana Wildlife Society's condor rehabilitation project realized the uncontrolled blaze could prove deadly for eight condors contained in a large aviary directly within the fire's predicted path.
Monterey County Weekly |
Stuart Thornton |
07-11-2008 |
Disasters
Scientists Cautious About Ocean Iron Fertilizationnew
As companies position themselves to profit from the practice of dumping iron in the sea to boost the production of phytoplankton, some of the scientists who conducted the first experiments are sounding a cautionary note.
Monterey County Weekly |
Kera Abraham |
04-17-2008 |
Environment
Monterey County Foreclosures on the Risenew
If the pace continues, the number of foreclosures in the county this year will hit close to 4,000; last year the total was 1,568. "This is unprecedented," says Lou Solton, county treasurer and tax collector for 23 years. "There have been other downturns in the real estate market but never this pronounced and not this lengthy."
Monterey County Weekly |
Zachary Stahl |
04-17-2008 |
Economy
