The Weekly Buzz 05.05.16

WHO’S IN TOWN?

Lots of pioneering science and technology happens within the U.S. Department of Defense, much of it on fenced-off military installations. This week, numerous officials from the DOD, private sector and academia come to South Monterey County to demonstrate their latest projects at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Joint Interagency Field Experimentation program. Presenters include NPS meteorology professor Peter Guest who demos drones that collect atmospheric measurements, and Perforce Software engineer Stephanie Turneruses mobile technology to connect to medical patients in disaster relief scenarios. Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, commander and president of theU.S. Air Force’s Air University in Alabama, is among the dignitaries coming to watch.

Mon-Fri May 9-13. Camp Roberts, 12 miles north of Paso Robles off Highway 101. Free; not open to the public. www.nps.edu/fx.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT

A reader asks what’s up with the new one-way traffic rules on Cannery Row. The story is this: Construction crews will be installing ADA ramps, decorative crosswalks and brick pavers at the intersections of Prescott Avenue and Drake Avenue May 3-June 10. Traffic will flow north toward the Aquarium. For access to the 100-300 blocks use Reeside Avenue; for 400-900 use either Drake or Hoffman.

Email whatsupwiththat@mcweekly.com

OVERHEARD

“Monterey is viewed as a very expensive and unwelcoming destination.”
- Julie Packard during her address to the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership’s annual summit April 26 in Monterey

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD: For the Carmel River, good news just keeps coming: On April 27, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management Districtannounced that over 300 steelhead trout have entered the river to spawn, far more than expected. It’s a big jump from the past two drought-stricken years, in particular the winter of 2014, when the river failed to connect the sea at all, and no fish were able to enter the river from the ocean. It’s also a big improvement from the tail end of the last major drought, which stretched from 1987-91, when only 15 returning adults were counted at the San Clemente Dam in 1992. Because that dam has now been removed, and with it, its fish counting station, continual data will not be reported, but MPWMD will make periodic walks along the main stem of the river looking for steelhead nests.

BAD: Good news for tule elk is bad news for elk hunters. Since 1996, Fort Hunter Liggett in South Monterey County has sponsored annual elk hunts, but U.S. Army and California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials announced this week that they’ve canceled the 2016-17 elk hunting season, which usually runs from early fall through midwinter. The Army reports that due to increased operational requirements, they’ll be closing off a significant portion of the base to the public – and it happens to be where most of the elk hang out. CDFW’s elk and antelope coordinator, Joe Hobbs, says there are roughly 400 tule elk on the base, one of 22 herds in the state totaling about 5,000 animals, recovered from just a handful in 1870. “It’s been a huge success story, and it’s been paid for by the hunting program,” Hobbs says.