In the many stories and photographs that appeared in the Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County Now throughout 2025, the common thread is people. This slideshow revisits some of the faces that we documented this year.
Anabel Garcia became Monterey County’s Early Learning Program director on July 1, inheriting a program that had faced turmoil after an investigation led to the resignation of the former leadership.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Transforming his own grief from suicide loss into activism, Ayo Banjo is an inspiring organizer leading a mental health and suicide prevention initiative at The Village Project.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Painter Lucas Blok (left) and photographer Jeffery Becom created a joint exhibit at the Monterey Museum of Art that invited viewers to walk through panels of colors, literally immersing themselves in the work.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Monterey City Attorney Christine Davi found herself thrust into the national spotlight when news broke that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—then a nominee for the Cabinet position—had been investigated for alleged rape in Monterey. Davi's legal analysis led her to release a redacted copy of the Monterey police report from 2017, because it had already been released to Hegseth in 2021.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Stephanie Wittels Wachs of Pacific Grove is the founder of Lemonada Media, a successful podcasting company that produces work for some well known hosts. “I did not intend to be a media mogul—that was not on my dance card,” she told the Weekly.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Matthew Swinnerton of Event Santa Cruz was contracted by the City of Sand City to take over management of the annual West End Celebration for the first time in 2025.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Seaside Manor Ian Oglesby also serves as president of the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee which, after Republican President Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024, decided in early 2025 not to renew its lease on a brick-and-mortar building in Seaside.
- Daniel Dreifuss
After building up a successful career in fine arts, Carmel artist Edi Matsumoto opened her own gallery this year.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Esmeralda Owen immigrated from El Salvador to Los Angeles at age 11 knowing zero English, then got into beauty pageants and learned to love public speaking. She became a broadcast journalist and moved to Salinas for a job as Univision news anchor, and then went on to build her own public relations firm.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Growing up on the South Coast of Big Sur, Rosalia Moon Webster was shaped by a culture of harvest parties, dancing and reverence for the Earth before going on to create the performing circus group Big SuRCuS.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Paul Hastey has been setting up an elaborate Halloween display at his Del Rey Oaks home for about nine years. It attracts a lot of trick-or-treaters with its laser displays and animatronics.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Marshall Sharpe was hired as the new gallery director at Hartnell Community College's art gallery, which reopened after a pandemic closure followed by two years of renovations. The gallery reopened on Oct. 2.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Mary Ann Carbone, the mayor of Sand City, also volunteers is an advocate for Indigenous communities. She helped bring a first-of-its-kind training event focused on missing and murdered indigenous women to Monterey this year.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Phuong Nguyen teaches Asian American history at CSU Monterey Bay, and is active with Asian Communities of Marina and other community groups. His story of fleeing Vietnam in a treacherous journey on his immigration path to the United States was retold in a collection of stories celebration Monterey County's immigrant community.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Max Troyer and Morgan Goyette teamed up to open a part-time local roller rink at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center. “I don’t think there are enough entertainment options where kids can be active,” Troyer says.
- Daniel Dreifuss
Daniel Dreifuss
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.