WHO’S IN TOWN?
Farmers and farm advisers from all over the Central Coast and Northern California are in town this week with a particular audience in mind: Latinos. The keynote speaker at the Latino Farmer Conference is Javier Zamora, owner of JSM Organics in Aromas, who immigrated to the U.S. at age 20 from Michoacan, Mexico, and who got his start on 2 acres through the Salinas nonprofit ALBA (Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association), eventually expanding to the 30 acres he farms today. Other speakers include Dave Runsten, policy director for the nonprofit Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and Stanford grad student Imanol Arrieta Ibarra, who presents on small-scale beekeeping.
8am-5pm Tuesday, Nov. 15. Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1 Old Golf Course Road, Monterey. Free. (530) 792-5695, www.latinofarmerconference.ncat.org.
WHAT’S UP WITH THAT
Several readers asked about the construction taking place on Del Monte Avenue in Monterey. The congestion-causing work is part of the city’s sewer rehab project; after working mainly in residential areas, contractors are now taking advantage of the slower tourist season to update old pipes and fix busted segments in business districts and more highly trafficked roads. The cost of the project is $16.8 million.
OVERHEARD
“Seventeen dollars for a lipstick? I don’t know where your head is.”
- A young child speaking to her mother in Macy’s at the Del Monte Shopping Center in Monterey.
GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK
GOOD:
It’s a good week for information, with resources from the Salinas Public Library now available digitally 24/7. Starting on Nov. 1, library members are now able to get access by cell phone, computer or tablet to a new digital collection that includes popular content like New York Times best-sellers, Rosetta Stone language programs and a multi-disciplinary database with more than 4,600 magazines and journals. Hoopla is also available, giving users access to thousands of movies, television shows, music albums and audiobooks. People can also stream or download content to peruse at a later time – minus the late fees. “We hope residents will take the time to learn about [the available learning material] and get their library card if they don’t have one already,” Salinas Library and Community Services Director Cary Ann Siegfried says. “We want to be able to provide that level of service to our community.”BAD:
Monterey County’s roads are so bad they appeared on a statewide list of the 10 worst, according to a new report. That report was conducted by Save California Streets, a coalition of the California State Association of Counties, League of California Cities and County Engineers Association. The county’s pavement flunked with an average Pavement Condition Index of 50 on a scale of zero to 100; only Alpine, Lake, Mendocino, Madera and San Benito counties scored worse. According to the report, in the past 10 years, the county has only met about 11 percent of the needs, like pothole repairs, on 1,800 miles of existing streets. The report also blames a shortage of funds on the statewide 18-cent-per-gallon gas tax, which hasn’t been adjusted since 1994. The 2014 report showed the state’s overall Pavement Condition Index is 66 out of 100. The latest report has it dropping further, to 65.
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