WHO’S IN TOWN?
Going to college in California is expensive. The average annual in-state tuition was $13,803 for the 2016-17 school year – $217 more than the U.S. average, according to collegecalc.org. The people who help students and their families find the money to afford college are in town this week for the annualCalifornia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Conference. They’ll be covering dozens of topics, including finding resources for immigrant Dreamers, helping veterans, identifying financial aid fraud, discussing how student loans affect credit, and more. Their opening speaker is Ryan Smith, executive director of The Education Trust-West, a nonprofit research, policy and advocacy organization in Oakland focused on educational justice for students in California.
Sat-Tue Oct. 28-31. Monterey Marriott, 350 Calle Principal, and Portola Hotel, 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey. $375. casfaa.org/annual-conference.
FREE SPEECH
In recent months, the Weekly has reported on changes to the county’s 911 system, and law enforcement officials’ decision to encrypt the new channels – meaning no more listening in by bad actors trying to evade police, but also no more listening in by members of the media. The next best method for media outlets to stay up to date on law enforcement happenings is by keeping track of agency logs, recording the basics of arrests and charges. The Salinas Police Department is the last agency to come around to publishing a blotter, which they announced Oct. 19 would start happening daily, in keeping with the California Public Records Act. (Previously, even a PRA request wouldn’t get you a copy of the log, because no such record existed.) The logs are now published at salinaspd.com/dpl. The Oct. 23 log shows nine officers making 10 arrests all over town on charges including DUIs, battery, burglary and theft.
GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK
GOOD:
It’s a good week for Central Coast residents concerned about the dangers of transporting oil by rail through a sensitive ecosystem – and a bad one for the oil company Phillips 66. The company had proposed building a rail spur at its Nipomo Mesa refinery in San Luis Obispo County that would have facilitated shipments of crude oil from the Bay Area on three trains per week – each with 80 cars carrying over 53,000 barrels of crude oil apiece, traveling south through Monterey County on tracks that border sensitive environmental habitat like Elkhorn Slough and in some cases, just feet from residential homes. The SLO County Planning Commission denied the project in October 2016, Phillips appealed, and the issue ultimately reached the courts. On Oct. 2, nearly a year later, SLO County and environmental groups reached a settlement with Phillips that upholds the county’s denial.
BAD:
It’s been a bad month for bullies. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, as designated by the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights. It started as a week-long effort in 2006, and since 2010 has expanded into a month, bringing schools and communities together around the issue of bullying. In Monterey County, those collaborations include Monterey, Salinas, Alisal, Seaside and Pacific Grove high schools, along with Santa Catalina, teaming up with Open Ground Studios to transfer all that emotional energy (related to being a bully or being bullied) into works of art. Every Sunday for 12 weeks, participants painted their hearts out under the guidance of volunteers and CSUMB faculty and staff. The end result is a pop-up exhibition entitled “You Will Rise,” happening Sunday, Oct. 29, from 1:30-3pm at Open Ground Studios at 1230 Fremont Blvd. in Seaside.