The Buzz 04.18.24

FREE SPEECH

California lawmakers are exploring how to make Big Tech pay journalistic outlets for sharing links to the news that journalists report, write and publish. Assembly Bill 886, known as the California Journalism Preservation Act, would require entities like Google and Meta that disseminate links to remit payment to the outlets that those links came from. As the bill moves through the legislative process, Google is taking drastic action to try to stop it. On April 12, the company announced a partial news blackout, in which it would stop linking to some California news sites for a “small percentage of California users.” Industry leaders and lawmakers were quick to condemn Google’s actions. “Harmful tactics by Big Tech to intimidate and threaten California’s media outlets is plain wrong,” said Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay. State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, noted Google’s tactics could create public safety problems for people reliant upon news articles in emergencies.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Today the ATC is a large, lifeless and decaying structure.” - Former Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe, speaking on Thursday, April 11 to the California Coastal Commission, which voted 9-1 in favor of a luxury hotel at the American Tin Cannery site (see story, mcweekly.com)

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

Great news for everyone who recreates on Fort Ord National Monument was delivered in October when volunteers with the Monterey Off-Road Cycling Association (MORCA) finished installing a 50-foot fiberglass bridge on Trail 47 over an eroded, impassable gulley called Couch Canyon. MORCA received $78,379 in grants from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for materials, then gave 500-plus volunteer hours to install it. Last year, riders in the Life Time Sea Otter Classic were rerouted on several races due to the erosion at this site, but this week will utilize the new bridge. “This will be the first year that thousands of Fuego Short/Fuego XC/Fuego XL riders cross the bridge,” says Peter Berridge, communications and outreach chair for MORCA. The bridge connects a popular trail about one mile from Laguna Seca Recreation Area to many Fort Ord trails widely used by mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians.

GREAT:

Students in South County schools will soon be rocking out thanks to generous donors. The Monterey County chapter of Guitars Not Guns and the Monterey County Office of Education will distribute 200 Keith Urban Yamaha guitars among 10 South Monterey County school districts on Monday, April 22. Guitars Not Guns is a nationwide nonprofit organization that provides guitars and lessons to young people as an alternative to a life of crime. The Monterey County chapter of the nonprofit, formed in 2010, has served more than 3,000 children, according to Director Steve Vagnini. Guitars Not Guns received over $25,000 from nearly 200 donors in Monterey County Gives! Vagnini then contacted MCOE Superintendent Deneen Guss, who helped identify which schools needed support for their musical programs. Many current and former Guitars Not Guns students are now playing in bands across the county and beyond.