Letters to the Editor 12.31.20

Coffee and Covid

I’m glad the permit was revoked (“Aloha Coffee, defiant of stay-at-home orders, loses its health permit,” posted Dec. 23). I wish the owner faced criminal charges as well and I hope they lose the business. Naked greed cloaked in claims of “freedom” at everyone else’s risk is disgusting.

Valuing money over health is exactly why the pandemic has lasted so long, claimed so many lives, and has had such a significant (for some permanent, possibly crippling) health impact. Matt Brysch | Salinas

Used to be my favorite place. I stopped going after I noticed no one was wearing masks around April. They make me so angry. Annarose Hunt | via social media

Good, I went in there weeks ago,and the barista was not wearing a mask, never put one on. I wouldn’t go back. Plenty of places to get coffee where they play by the rules. Tiffany Sheele | Half Moon Bay

Good on the city for enforcing finally! Lucas Musgrave | Santa Cruz

Keep fighting the lockdown!! We are all adults. By now we know what safety precautions to take. We know to stay home if we are vulnerable. Let businesses thrive! Karen Desmond Hermsmeier | via social media

Good for him. I didn’t see any of you wearing a mask during H1N1; 500,000-plus deaths. Stop witch hunting with your authoritarian narcissism. David Alan Jacobs | Salinas

I have a religious conviction too. I religiously avoid businesses (ESPECIALLY eating establishments) that willfully violate health codes. If he does this in the middle of a pandemic, you can only imagine what it’s like when there’s no one watching. Gary Bolen | via social media

Gone To Pot

Wow, your city is losing out on so much money! You do know that cannabis is legal in California, right? Pagrovians are going to other cities to buy their cannabis and bringing it back home to Pacific Grove to consume it, why not sell it there and reap the tax revenue from it? (“New Pacific Grove council reverses decision, blocks retail cannabis sales,” posted Dec. 17.) Marvin Glazier | Seaside

Thanks P.G. for the tax dollars! Sincerely, Seaside. Michael Kohler | Seaside

How can they negate the will of the people? It’s time to replace the mayor with one who will listen to the people and act on that will. This sounds way too Trumpish! Rob Eaton | via social media

Right and Wrongs

So, Ray and Barbara Rasul object to the political cartoon about Republicans being inoculated from the truth (“Letters,” Dec. 24-30). Last I checked, it was Trump who called the Covid virus a hoax as late as March 6, 2020 at a rally in North Carolina, and had Covid-spreading rallies with few wearing masks and no social distancing. I’m sick and tired of the wrong so-called “right wind” coming from Republicans who support Trump.

The reality is that it’s the political extremist right that has been fixing for a fight, a civil war if you will, and Trump has been stirring the pot with his rhetoric for years, since he said Obama wasn’t an American and called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers.

Kudos to Monterey County Weekly to run Tom Tomorrow’s cartoons; his are the best work of American political satire and has been since he started a few decades back. LD Freitas | Aptos

In reading through recent comments and letters from readers, it is clear to me that the only sure thing about the Covid-19 “pandemic” is all the confusion it has successfully created among the general public. And, I also see a common ground in the collective desires of all your readers for an ultimate return to normal.

I wish to also point out that your perspectives on how we can achieve that return to glory are incorrect since they all involve playing along with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rules and games for taking advantage of the “pandemic.”

We must make our own safety decisions. We must go back to work when we feel ready. We must get our teachers and students back in our schools. We must stop being such pussies. We must stop expecting the government to take care of us. Otherwise, we (mostly you) will end up cowering in our homes in fear until the day we die, of one thing or another. Cat Olic | Seaside

Term’s Up

Reading the account of State Sen. Bill Monning’s legislative and policy achievements is to be reminded how magnificently he served constituents (“After 12 years of repping parts of Monterey County in the State Capitol, today is Bill Monning’s last day,” Nov. 26-Dec. 2). Monning has done so much to improve our quality of life, authoring bills ranging from environmental preservation to women’s health to protection of farmworkers. He has championed the arts, protected animals from abuse, and pioneered legislation to protect children’s and public health. It is his signature achievement, however, the End of Life Option Act, that I will particularly remember. I watched him and his excellent staff as they patiently and effectively navigated the bill through a maze of opposition, including that from the Catholic Church.

It should not be forgotten that he had an opportunity to run for a congressional seat that he would have easily won, but chose instead to remain in the State Senate seat to which we elected him. Whatever he chooses to do next, he will find a dedicated constituency to support him. While we say goodbye to a talented and compassionate legislator, we welcome a talented and compassionate fellow citizen. Susan Meister | Pebble Beach