FREE SPEECH
Salinas is the most populous city between San Jose and Fresno with 160,000 residents, 80 percent of whom identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Census. It’s our county seat and is the center of a $11.7 billion agriculture industry. Yet, its once-daily newspaper, the Salinas Californian, has been decimated to a shell of its former self under corporate ownership, while in 2025, KION’s Salinas newsroom was dissolved, leaving many stories in the city and the Salinas Valley going untold. Salinas Valley Now plans to help fill that void. The bilingual, five-day-a-week newsletter and companion website, a new project of Monterey County Now, will provide a local source of information for the city and surrounding communities that desperately deserve it. Two new editorial staff members and a half-time digital producer have been hired to take the lead on the project. Beginning Monday, May 11, sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox or via WhatsApp at salinasvalleynow.com. As always, reach out to us with news tips and feedback.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The image that popped into my mind was a bridge. It’s still standing, but not for long, if we don’t act.” - Monterey City Manager Dante Hall, describing the city’s structural deficit (see story, montereycountynow.com/news)
GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK
GOOD:
It’s a good week for increasing the region’s nursing supply, with the announcement on Wednesday, May 6 – National Nurses Day – that Salinas Valley Health is granting $1.5 million over three years to Hartnell College to increase the college’s nursing student capacity from 50 to 75 students. The grant follows a previous gift of $3 million from SVH to expand Hartnell’s nursing program. The new grant was announced at a press conference at Hartnell’s Nursing and Health Sciences building. It was hailed as a solution to meeting regional nursing shortages and expanding access to health care services for the community, as well as supporting economic mobility for students. The relationship between Hartnell and SVH goes back 23 years, with the creation of the annual Summer Health Institute, a program designed to expose high school students to health care careers.
GREAT:
It’s no secret Alisal Unified School District is home to creative students who perform in various groups, including drumline, folklorico, mariachi, cheer and Aztec dancing. They will soon have a permanent spot to showcase their talents to the broader community. On Wednesday, May 6, the district broke ground on its new Performing Arts Center at Monte Bella Elementary School, an 8,100-square-foot building with a performance stage with room for 200 seats, a media center, lobby, dressing rooms, storage and more. “There are very few elementary schools that have a dedicated performance space,” Associate Superintendent of Business Services Rais Abbasi said. “We live in an area where there are few cultural venues, and the community will draw enormous benefits from it.” The $8 million project is funded through the district’s general fund and grants.