The Buzz 12.08.22

FREE SPEECH

Colorado-based website designer Lorie Smith, an evangelical Christian, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold her right to refuse to work with same-sex couples on wedding website design, a violation of anti-discrimination protections. On Monday, Dec. 5, the justices heard arguments and the conservative majority seemed keen to rule on Smith’s side. Pro-free speech groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union, oppose Smith’s claim. A similar case was heard by the Supreme Court in 2018 when Colorado baker Jack Phillips of the Masterpiece Cakeshop refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, and the court took his side in a 7-2 vote. In California, on Oct. 21, 2022, Kern County Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw handed a similar victory to a bakery owner Cathy Miller of Bakersfield, who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, citing religious objections that conflict with California’s anti-discrimination laws. “My case could pick up where Masterpiece Cakeshop left off,” Smith said in an interview with The National Review.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“When I look back, I think young people don’t realize how vulnerable they are.” – Jesse Juarez, the new executive director of Youth Arts Collective, reflecting on how his years as a YACster (2001-2005) influenced him. (See story, mcweekly.com)

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

After two-and-a-half years of a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, community institutions are still reopening their doors. One that is just relaunching is the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Free to Learn program, which provides complimentary group admission to nonprofits and governmental agencies that serve low-income people who may otherwise be unable to experience the aquarium. (General admission is now $49.95 for adults, $39.95 for youth ages 13-17, $34.95 for children ages 5-12 and free for children 4 and under.) “The Aquarium is committed to providing affordable access programs for people who could not otherwise afford to pay the cost of admission,” Executive Director Julie Packard said in a statement. “The ocean and the Aquarium are for everybody, and we want everyone to have the opportunity to visit.” Groups of up to 140 can now apply for visits through May 2023 online at montereybayaquarium.org/freetolearn.

GREAT:

An important milestone for the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply was reached Dec. 1 when the California Public Utilities Commission approved a water purchase agreement between Cal Am, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and Monterey One Water to facilitate the expansion of Pure Water Monterey, a recycled water project that currently can provide up to 3,500 acre-feet of water annually. Under the amended agreement approved Dec. 1, Pure Water Monterey could provide another 2,250 acre-feet annually, bringing the project’s annual water deliveries to 5,750 acre-feet – more than half of the Peninsula’s current demand. For all the controversy surrounding Cal Am’s proposed desalination project, the last chapter of which involved a 13-hour California Coastal Commission meeting in November, the Pure Water expansion didn’t even merit a discussion by the CPUC – it sailed through unanimously.