The Buzz June 23-39, 2022

FREE SPEECH

On June 17, the British government ordered extradition of Julian Assange to the U.S. on spying charges that date to 2017. Those charges came over a decade after Assange started the platform WikiLeaks in 2006 to publish leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Thousands of records known as the Iraq War Logs revealed brutal conduct. WikiLeaks has published thousands of documents leaked by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, whose prison sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama, leading to her release in 2017. Assange faces 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse; if convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. While WikiLeaks declared it will appeal a conviction, this order brings Assange a step closer to a trial in the U.S., where it will be an interesting test to the First Amendment. The Espionage Act prohibits publishing classified information “used to the injury of the United States.” They also released Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails (hacked by Russia) in 2016, less than an hour after the Access Hollywood “pussy” tape dropped.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We are expecting a busy fire season throughout the state.” - Rene DiTullio, outgoing chief of the Monterey-San Benito unit of Cal Fire, after four fires in two days (June 13-14) were contained at 90 acres or less (see story, posted June 16 at mcweekly.com/news).

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

Good news for internet connectivity, specifically for students in Gonzales who are enrolled in the city’s hotspot program: Gonzales City Council extended the program by two more years. In 2019, the city launched the Internet for All Initiative, a partnership with T-Mobile to provide hot spots and high-speed internet for students and their families – especially critical when the pandemic started and school went online. In early 2020, Gonzales received 2,000 wireless hotspots to distribute to residents. “The program has been a huge success and extending the agreement with T-Mobile is critical,” City Manager Rene Mendez said. “Two more years will allow us time to work with the recently formed South Salinas Valley Broadband JPA to implement a Community Broadband Network that will provide a permanent solution for affordable internet access for our residents.”

GREAT:

North Monterey County residents who live along the Pajaro River have something to celebrate: The reconstruction of the Pajaro Levee. The last obstacle in a years-long journey to begin the flood prevention project was funding. And on June 8, property owners approved an assessment that will cover operations and maintenance of the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project. The Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency – a bi-county agency (Monterey and Santa Cruz) – will manage the levee thanks to about $1.2 million per year expected from the assessment, which was approved with 79 percent of a weighted vote cast by impacted property owners. Construction on the $400 million project is expected to start in 2025 and to be completed in 2032, relying on federal and state funds; the assessment enables a local agency to close a critical funding gap for ongoing maintenance.