Free Press
After his meeting with President Barack Obama in the White House on Nov. 10, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted, “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!” His disdain for unfavorable media coverage isn’t new; throughout the election, and during the first days of the transition period, Trump broke from the tradition of inviting a “pool reporter” – selected from a rotating group of journalists who are invited to cover events or speeches, then share their coverage with news outlets. (Hillary Clinton also broke from tradition, often failing to invite a pool reporter to campaign events.) In a letter to the Trump campaign,White House Correspondents’ Association President Jeff Mason wrote, “[A pool] of journalists has a decades-long, bipartisan precedent, anchored to the principles of the First Amendment.”
WHAT’S UP WITH THAT
A reader asked about a curious sight in Monterey earlier this month: “Why did a bunch of soldiers just fall from the sky into the Presidio with smoke, a POW MIA flag, and an American flag?” Turns out they were a U.S. Army special ops unit called “Black Daggers,” and the jump was part of Defense Language Institute’s 75th anniversary festivities Nov. 4-5.
OVERHEARD
“Trust me, I’m a millennial.
- ”A young man speaking to a friend while surfing at Wharf 2 in Monterey.
GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK
GOOD:
It’s a great week – and season – for patrons of
Monterey-Salinas Transit, including veterans. In sync with Veterans Day last week, MST awarded free annual bus passes to 12 deserving veterans. Meanwhile all sorts of other progress is taking place: RealTime bus arrivals are now live via Google Transit; a partnership with the
Monterey County Hospitality Association allows for free GoPasses for hospitality employees; and reduced bus pass pricing from $95/month to $13/month is in place for those affected by the Holman Highway 68 roundabout project – anyone who lives or works in Big Sur, Carmel, Carmel Valley, parts of Monterey, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach. More at
www.mst.org.
BAD:
It’s been another rough week for those waiting to hear whether they’ll receive a business permit to operate medical cannabis businesses in the city of Salinas. In July, the city legalized medical marijuana dispensaries, delivery services, manufacturing plants and cultivators. City Council decided to give out just 12 cannabusiness permits, three for each type of business, and initially expected to select the candidates as early as October. City Attorney
Chris Callihan said the review process was slowed down “to complete our due diligence.” Then on Nov. 7, Callihan said there was a new cause for delay: a hold-up on the
Live Scan process because of a change in the
Department of Justice’s processing system. Now, interviews with applicants to finalize the selection process have been pushed to 2017. (Good news softened the blow for some industry players Nov. 8 when California voters said yes to legalizing recreational marijuana.)
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