The Buzz 08.09.18

WHO’S IN TOWN?

Someone has to do the clean up when the biosolids hit the fan, or in most cases, get flushed down the toilet. Actually, what we flush is transformed into biosolids – an alternative term is sewage sludge – after it’s processed through a sewage treatment plant. The biosolids are recycled and turned into fertilizer for agriculture, and the leftover water is treated and released into the environment. This week the California Association of Sanitation Agencies is in town for its 63rd annual conference with keynote speaker Chad Pregracke, founder and president of Living Lands and Waters. Pregracke is the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year for his work cleaning up rivers and author of the book From the Bottom Up: One Man’s Crusade to Clean America’s Rivers.

Wed-Fri Aug. 8-10. Monterey Marriott, 350 Calle Principal, Monterey. $595-$1,100. casaweb.org.

FREE SPEECH

Facebook’s handling of news – and what news really is – may be a work in progress. But last week the behemoth announced a fresh round of investments into local news publishing. In a press release, Facebook’s global head of news Campbell Brown writes it will launch what’s called the Facebook Membership Accelerator, a $3.5-million, three-month pilot program designed to help news organizations with membership models move forward in their approach and execution, while also giving $1 million to the 2018 NewsMatch campaign, which receives major funding from the Knight Foundation and matches individual donations to more than 100 nonprofit newsrooms around the country, including Voices of Monterey Bay. Some publishers that stand to benefit from the NewsMatch, though, are looking for ways to opt out of the Facebook money, over concerns that Facebook’s ethics are out of alignment with their own and how Facebook prevents some stories from being seen because it labels them as “political content” rather than news.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

For years, the promise of better train service to Salinas has been purely conceptual. That changes at 11am on Aug. 9 when the Transportation Agency for Monterey County holds a groundbreaking ceremony to put a shovel in the ground on the Monterey County Rail Extension project, which will offer two round-trips daily from Salinas to Gilroy. The idea is to extend Caltrain service further south, and offer an alternative commute to Silicon Valley. The $81 million project includes some rail improvements, but mostly improves access to the existing station, TAMC planner Christina Watson says: “It’s going to really transform the train station and make it a nicer place to be.” Speakers at the groundbreaking include State Transportation Agency Deputy SecretaryChad Edison, Assemblymember Anna Caballero and TAMC Director Debbie Hale.

BAD:

As wildfires rage across California (again), the headlines of major media outlets are finally acknowledging what has long been in plain sight: With climate change making the West hotter and drier, wildfires will continue to grow more frequent and destructive. A snapshot of the warming planet came with the Aug. 1 annual State of the Climate report led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which compared 2017’s weather to past years. Globally, it was the third-hottest year on record (2016 was first; 2015, second), and had the highest greenhouse gas concentrations in at least 800,000 years. Among other tidbits: Arctic maximum sea ice coverage and Antarctic sea ice coverage both reached a record low. In turn, sea level rise reached an all-time high, and is rising at about 1.3 inches per decade. Buckle up, folks.