The Buzz 02.11.21

FREE SPEECH

The nonprofit news organization Open Vallejo launched last July in spectacular fashion, with a story detailing how a secretive clique of Vallejo police officers had an obscene tradition of celebrating on-the-job fatal shootings by bending the tips on their badges each time they killed in the line of duty. Open Vallejo, founded by constitutional attorney and journalist Geoffrey King (who has the first three words of the Constitution – We the People – tattooed on his arm) has filed hundreds of California Public Records Act requests on the city and its police department, and last year won the 2020 James Madison Freedom of Information award for its work exposing police and government misconduct, and just added another accolade – USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism on Feb. 23 will award Open Vallejo with a special citation in its annual Selden Ring Award for Investigative Journalism for its bent badges piece. The citation notes that King was on the receiving end of numerous pre-publication threats before publishing his award-winning piece.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I want my family to be resilient in an end-of-the-world scenario.” - Laura Otero, who writes novels using the name Elle Otero, speaking about her newest book, about life in a pandemic and written just before the Covid-19 pandemic began (this week’s Face to Face story).

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

It’s a good week for would-be electric bicycle owners, after U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, introduced the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment (E-BIKE) Act on Feb. 9. The Act would create a consumer tax credit to cover 30 percent of the cost of a new e-bike under $8,000, or up to $1,500. The goal is to make e-bikes more accessible to encourage people to replace car trips cutting back on carbon emissions. “E-bikes are not just a fad for a select few, they are a legitimate and practical form of transportation that can help reduce our carbon emissions,” Panetta said. The bill is supported by bicycling advocacy groups, including local group Bicycling Monterey. “A tax rebate for electric bicycles will allow many more Americans to afford transportation that is better for the environment – with the added benefit of improved personal and public health,” founder Mari Lynch said.

GREAT:

Speaking of bike upgrades: Thanks to a $14,000 grant from the Transportation Agency for Monterey County called Bicycle Secure Program, the city of Greenfield is getting an outdoor bike repair station and bike lockers for public use, to be located outside Greenfield Community Science Workshop. Many Greenfield residents use bikes to commute, and cyclists will be able to do minor repairs for free. They can also learn how; the second free repair workshop was on Saturday, Feb. 6. The station has an air pump, and 50mm and hexagon wrenches. The nonprofit is hoping to get another repair station installed by the end of the fiscal year this summer. It comes at the right time, says José Sánchez, Community Science Workshop director. “It is especially important now because biking is one of the few activities that you can do during the pandemic that is safe,” he says.