The Buzz 01.15.26

FREE SPEECH

Journalist Seth Harp posted a publicly available biography on social media of a military officer he identified as someone who played a major role in the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Days later, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Harp, claiming that he leaked classified information and doxed the military commander. The vote was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. “The First Amendment does not give anyone a license to expose elite military personnel, compromise operations or assist our adversaries under the guise of reporting,” U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, said in a statement to The Washington Post. The vote also came with a subpoena for two co-executors of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, under an agreement between Democrats and Republicans on the committee. “The idea of a reporter ‘leaking classified intel’ is a contradiction in terms,” Harp told the Post. “The First Amendment and ironclad Supreme Court precedent permit journalists to publish classified documents. We don’t work for the government and it’s our job to expose secrets, not protect them for the convenience of high-ranking officials.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“This center represents the evolution of an idea that started with youth having a voice.”- Jeffrey Alvarez, a 2013 Gonzales youth commissioner, speaking about the Gonzales Teen Center that opened Saturday, Jan. 10 (see story, montereycountynow.com/newsletter)

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

For various reasons, those served by the Veterans Transition Center in Marina often have difficulty getting around, including to work and to important appointments. Since 2021, the Sea Otter Classic Foundation has made it a little easier for these veterans who may have a history of homelessness or incarceration. On Monday, Jan. 12, the foundation donated four new e-bikes to the VTC, sourced by Cycle House Bike Co. in Marina, bringing its total to 17 since it launched. The E-Bikes for Veterans program may be modest in scale for now, but foundation Executive Director Melanie Stackpole says Monday’s donation “represents a long-term commitment to sustained impact as we continue to grow our community support efforts.”

GREAT:

Three years after it closed to travelers due to a slide, Highway 1 in Big Sur was set to reopen to through-travelers on Wednesday, Jan. 14. The news comes ahead of Caltrans’ projected timeline to reopen the highway by March 2026. Two overlapping slides – Paul’s Slide on Jan. 14, 2023, and Regent’s Slide on Feb. 9, 2024 – resulted in the longest closure in the region’s history. “The whole community has been designed around being able to travel north and south, so being able to restore that is going to give everyone the ability to take a deep breath and reunite,” says Kirk Gafill, president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and owner of Nepenthe. “It’s a huge psychological relief. There’s nothing like reuniting a community after its been separated for three years.”