The Weekly Tally 01.12.17

WHO’S IN TOWN?

Fresh off of her 24-year stint in the U.S. Senate, Barbara Boxer is in town as the keynote speaker of the annual Roe v. Wade luncheon hosted by Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. She talks about her new book, The Art of Tough, and “a career spent fighting for change.” Boxer famously attempted – unsuccessfully – to codify Roe v. Wade in 2004 with introduction of the Freedom of Choice Act. The nonprofit health care provider says it is honoring Boxer as a “dedicated supporter of Planned Parenthood and proud advocate for reproductive freedom.”

11am-1:30pm Tues Jan. 17. Monterey; exact location provided upon ticket purchase. $100/single ticket; $1,250-$5,000/tables of 10. www.ppmarmonte.org/roe2017.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

A reader wonders why the DMV posts signs disallowing cell phones. A veteran clerk advises it’s not to keep lines moving and visitors on task, but to discourage people from photographing employees they might be disgruntled with and posting those online – or taking pictures of test questions or using their phones to search for the right answer. Informal field research reveals using your phone while waiting is tolerated.

Email whatsupwiththat@mcweekly.com.

FREE PRESS

With Inauguration Day approaching Jan. 20, organizers are planning hundreds of rallies and marches across the country, with a handful in Monterey County. There are 25 sister marches planned in California on Saturday, Jan. 21, in conjunction with the Women’s March on Washington, including one at 1pm at CSU Monterey Bay. On Friday, Jan. 20, organizers are planning a rally at Window on the Bay in Monterey from 4-6pm, with support from about two dozen organizations and elected officials, including Black Lives Matter, Democratic Club of the Monterey Peninsula and State Sen. Bill Monning. Also on Jan. 20, organizers host a rally called “Hands Around the Park, Hands off the Salinas Valley” from 4-5:30pm in Closter Park in Salinas.

Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect an event time change made after the Weekly went to print. The women's march at CSUMB is now scheduled for 1pm Jan. 21, not 8am, as originally reported.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

Good:

It’s a good week for about 100 Salinas students who are in Washington, D.C. from Jan. 14-21 watching democracy unfold. The members of the Salinas Valley Dream Academy, under instruction of Alisal High School teacher Ruben Pizarro, each raised $2,000 for the trip, which includes meetings with congressmen Jimmy Panetta and Luis Gutierrez (an outspoken advocate for immigration reform), as well as visits to Smithsonian museums, the U.S. Supreme Court and monuments. They haven’t decided yet on whether they’ll show up at the inauguration: “We don’t know what the atmosphere is going to be like,” Pizarro says of the mostly Latino group, which includes some undocumented immigrant students. “We just don’t know how we’re going to feel. But we think this is the best teachable moment.”

Bad:

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for movie lovers thanks to the closure of the Imax theater, Cannery Row XD, in Monterey. The theater’s lease with landlord Cannery Row Cannery was up on Jan. 1, and the theater declined to renew it, says Cannery Row Company President Mike Zimmerman. There have been no offers on the vacant space since then, he adds. The theater most recently screened Rogue One, the latest Star Wars installment, in December.

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