Letters to the Editor 05.14.26

Race is On

Jimmy Panetta should explain why he, as a congressman in California representing District 19 – which includes Monterey, Santa Cruz, Paso Robles and parts of San Jose – has accepted $173,742 from American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 2025 (“Our endorsements for local, state and federal races in the June 2 primary election,” May 7-13). War is not environmentally friendly.

Diana Lopez | Seaside

Thank you for joining the Monterey County Democrats and PG Progressives in endorsing Yes on Measure C. It is sensible, overdue, and modest compared to what neighboring cities already implemented.

Pacific Grove City Council pay has not changed since 1998. In the 28 years since, the cost of living has more than doubled, and the demands of serving on council have only grown. Leaving compensation frozen for nearly three decades is not fiscal responsibility. It is a choice to keep public service inaccessible.

A city council should reflect the whole community: working people, parents, renters and small business owners, not just those who can afford to serve at a financial loss. Measure C makes serving possible.

John Mothershead | Pacific Grove

Monterey County Now is obviously a highly biased leftist rag. There is no logical reasoning in most of those endorsements – just political bias.

Robert McGregor | Salinas

Birds and Bees

Perhaps the reason that California is the only state that has not approved this pesticide use is because Iso-cycloseram is highly toxic to bees and other pollinating insects exposed to direct treatment or to residues on blooming crops and weeds (“Amid growing pest problems, the diamondback moth threatens top crops,” April 30-May 6).

As an agricultural state, there must be a balance between what is good for the market and what is potentially detrimental to one of the things that fuels that market; namely, the bees.

Elneda Connors | Carmel

Seeing the Signal

I’ll be interested to follow the feedback from this innovative approach to traffic management along this vital corridor (“Caltrans begins its adaptive traffic signal pilot program on Highway 68,” posted May 4). Congratulations to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s board of directors for taking this bold step into the future.

Derek Dean | Monterey

At the Table

As a District 1 resident, I wish Councilmember José Luis Barajas healing, privacy and strength during this difficult time (“Salinas Council approves an extended leave of absence for youngest councilmember,” posted May 6). He is a person first, and I hope he is surrounded by support.

District 1, meanwhile, has urgent needs and cannot afford to be without active representation. Our roads need attention, especially East Boronda Road, where pavement segments are in poor and failed condition. The intersection near the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex has real collision-safety concerns and needs immediate attention before someone is seriously hurt.

There are many more issues in our neighborhoods that need someone present, engaged and fighting for us every day. If Councilmember Barajas is unable to fully serve, he should step aside with dignity so our community can have the active representation it deserves.

Victor Manuel Tafoya | Salinas

Spilled the Beer

So sorry to hear this news (“Former owner of a Monterey building loses a business venture after falling behind on a loan,” April 30-May 6).

Tiffany Lucero | via social media

Wishing Fabrice Rondia the best in winning this battle.

Marek Piecyk | Salinas

This is really sad.

Dave Eaton | via social media

Color Guard

The Naval Postgraduate School also does a similar ceremony (“The signal of a new day can be heard across Monterey every morning, carrying on a tradition,” April 30-May 6). I live on Del Monte Beach and have always assumed that when I hear the recording in the evening, it is coming from there.

Anyway, a very interesting article!

Ann Folsom | Monterey

I’m a member of the Monterey Pines Golf Course men’s club. We have a tournament the second Saturday of every month. The tournament starts at 8:30am, but there are generally dozens of guys there by 7:45am or so. When the call to colors happens, everyone immediately stops whatever they are doing, removes their caps, and faces the flag that flies near the #1 tee and #18 green.

The first time I experienced it, I didn’t realize what was happening (I’m not military or ex-military) and didn’t stop until I realized that literally no one else was moving and everyone was facing in the same direction. Haven’t made that mistake since!

Gary Bolen | Prunedale

Lyrical Style

Beautiful voice, magical storytelling (“Nigerian musician Ekene Music dabbles with a wide range of songs and poetry,” April 30-May 6).

Rosalia Moon Webster | Big Sur

Breaking Bread

Thank you for the beautiful and soul-warming story of Shanghai Jimmy’s chili rice (“Food creates meaning and memories. A single dish can even bring a lost past to the present,” posted May 5). In these times of fear, war and villainization, both nationally and internationally, I needed a story like this to remember what we can be as people on this ride of life.

Human connection through kindness and compassion is what we all need and want. I suspect there would be much less fear and more smiles if we all sat down with a plate of Jimmy’s chili rice. Next time, please include a recipe.

Thanks again for wonderful storytelling.

Berj Amir | Seaside