The Buzz 04.14.22

FREE SPEECH

Ketanji Brown Jackson, confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first Black female justice to the Supreme Court on April 7, is being hailed by many as the most qualified candidate in modern history. She served nearly eight years in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and has more years of experience as a judge than four current justices when they were confirmed. Attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press combed through her court decisions to see where she landed on areas important to journalists, including Freedom of Information Act decisions. They concluded her track record was a “mixed bag,” according to the committee’s April newsletter. While sitting on the district court Jackson “rarely ordered federal agencies to turn over records when they claim an exemption under the law.” She’s been “friendlier” to records requesters when it involves questions of whether an agency did a sufficient job searching for records or in disputes over the cost of retrieving records.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It’s a rage room, yeah. But we’re a place that is a safe place.” - Justin McClain, co-owner of The Break Room, a Monterey business where anyone can take out their aggression by smashing objects. (Read 831 story)

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

People with motor disabilities will be able to enjoy their time at the beach through The Wahine Project, a local organization that promotes ocean access for all. The nonprofit received $20,000 from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to obtain adaptive equipment and installation training to provide a track where people with mobility impairments can move at the beach and get into the water. “I want people to have access just like everybody else. It doesn’t have to be a special day or a special time,” says Dionne Ybarra, founder and director of The Wahine Project. The track has been installed at least twice near Municipal Wharf 2 in Monterey and in June it will be moved to Del Monte Beach by Casa Verde Way. The walkway will be available the first three Saturdays of each month and during the summer it will expand to six days a week.

GREAT:

On April 5, California State Parks and California State Library announced a program wherein the state is sending day-use state park passes to its 1,200 public libraries, where they’ll be available for free checkout to use at certain state parks. “With the California State Library Parks Pass, anyone with a library card will be able to unlock the benefits and beauty of our majestic state parks,” First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in the statement. Peggy Langford, a librarian at the Monterey Public Library, says the library currently has two passes – and is expecting a handful more in coming weeks. The passes are available to be checked out now. Each library will decide how long passes can be checked out; in Monterey’s case, Langford says, that will be two weeks. If they’re not returned on time, she adds, the card’s barcode will be disabled and they will become useless until returned.