The Buzz 06.21.18

WHO’S IN TOWN?

Before there was Barbie, American Girl and every other mass-produced doll meant to be played with by children, dolls were lovingly created by hand for centuries. And just as Barbie was gaining popularity in the U.S. in the 1960s, a group of artisans came together to make dolls that weren’t meant to be played with, but rather admired as works of art. They formed the National Institute of American Doll Artists, to keep the art alive. This week NIADA is in town with its 2018 Dollmaking School at Asilomar. Classes include how to digitally sculpt and create doll heads with 3-D printing, needle sculpting, stuffed hair construction, creating realistic appendages, making props, hairstyling and more.

June 25-27 classes, June 28-July 1 NIADA conference, Asilomar Conference Grounds, 800 Asilomar Ave., Pacific Grove. $60-$240/per class. niada.org.

FREE SPEECH

Starting in 1993, editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers made incisive political cartoons about American politics from his perch at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and they were reprinted by news outlets all over (including in the Weekly). On June 6, after 19 cartoons were rejected in a span of three months, Rogers tweeted that his employment status was pending: “I love what I do. Now, more than ever, I believe in the power of satire and the public dialogue that it can create. Thank you for being part of that dialogue.” Eight days later, Rogers was fired. In the New York Times, he wrote that he’d watched the Post creep increasingly rightward, and his persistent jokes about President Donald Trump landed him in trouble: “Management decided that my cartoons about the president were ‘too angry’ and said I was ‘obsessed with Trump.’” Publisher/Editor John Block corroborated that take in comments to Politico, in an effort to justify Rogers’ firing: “He’s obsessed with Trump.”

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

The tony Vanity Fair magazine doesn’t normally pay much attention to California unless celebrities or crime (or both at the same time) are involved. So it was a rare exception when this month’s issue dropped, featuring a big and beautiful article on 10 of California’s Waterkeeperorganizations, including Monterey Coastkeeper and the work of its founder, Steve Shimek, also the chief executive of The Otter Project. As the article notes, Shimek is striving for systemic change that beats suing polluters, even though suing has been relatively effective. He led a coalition that included fishing organizations and the Stanford University Environmental Law Clinic to force the state to regulate ag runoff, and a suit against Monterey County to force proper water treatment is ongoing. Shimek tells Vanity Fair that after a 20-year run he was planning on winding down, but that he’s found the Trump administration to be “an energizing force.”

BAD:

The party is over. Just after midnight on Monday June 18 (while some of us were sleeping), Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies got a call about a loud party in the Oak Hills neighborhood of Prunedale. This one, on Bluegrass Place, was the third rager in the area in recent weeks, all taking place in vacant homes that are currently for sale. Deputies showed up and found about 100 teenagers, a smashed-in front door and broke up the party. They also arrested 18-year-old Christian Lee Baney of Monterey and 19-year-old Luis Angel Navarette of Soledad, on charges of possession of narcotics and probation violations, respectively. Deputies also report that Navarette was identified for attempting to incite a riot at one of the two previous parties. “The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind potential partygoers that we have zero tolerance for this type of activity,” according to a statement about the bust.