The Buzz 07.01.21

FREE SPEECH

At first glance, California News Times may appear like a plucky, upstart news blog with stories on everything from tech to crime. “Utilizing a vast network of strategically situated correspondents all over California,” the page declares, “Californianewstimes.com is at the vanguard of every breaking news story that matters most to the common man.” The issue in this telling? Those “correspondents” work for other news organizations. Yes, californianewstimes.com is an aggregator pulling stories from publications including TechCrunch, New York Times and Salinas Valley Tribune. And it appears to be doing so without permission. Compare a californianewstimes.com story side-by-side with the original and you’ll find small differences in wording – just enough to not be a direct copy-paste. There’s a reason for this. “It could trick the search engines into thinking it’s original content,” says Dan Pulcrano, owner of the Tribune. (Search engines like Google have duplicate content penalties that rank it lower). Tiny changes could also make it more difficult for copyright holders to go after californianewstimes.com legally. That the site’s headquarters is in India doesn’t help either.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“When you’re charging $200 per ticket, you’re catering to a specific audience.” - Michael Alvarez on how community theater expands the meaning of who theater is for (see Face to Face story).

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

The summer is back, tourism is back, and so is the free Monterey-Salinas Transit trolley in the city of Monterey. Assistant City Manager Nat Rojanasathira says the popular route that takes tourists and locals between attractions such as Cannery Row, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Fisherman’s Wharf will be back for a couple of months. Rides will be available daily from July 3 through Labor Day, Sept. 6. (In pre-pandemic times, it ran daily during the summer months and weekends in the off season.) In previous years, the free rides were funded thanks to a partnership between the city and Aquarium. This year MST is also contributing and will cover 44 percent of the $374,000 needed to run this service. MST is using a federal grant from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Rides will run daily from 10am-6pm, helping alleviate congestion.

GREAT:

For decades, the story of wetlands has been one of decline as human development chops up and drains these fragile (and crucial) ecosystems. Elkhorn Slough Foundation is doing what it can to reverse that trend piece by piece, and announced a 34-acre acquisition that expands the nonprofit’s land holdings in the Moro Cojo watershed to more than 450 acres. The $175,000 sale, from the Tottino family (one of the families behind Ocean Mist Farms), was made to ESF with Coastal Conservation & Research Inc. and the Central Coast Wetlands Group out of Moss Landing Marine Labs, thanks to funds from the Ocean Protection Council. Wetlands have the effect of cleaning water – specifically, removing nitrate from upstream agricultural fertilizer – as it flows through them, into the ocean. “These wetlands serve as scrubbing filters for runoff,” ESF Executive Director Mark Silberstein says.