A fast list of what you should be watching/attending in the coming weeks.

If I were more glib, this might be called “news you can use.” But let’s just call it five things you should know about and pay attention to if you live in Monterey County.

5. “The mother of all battles is upon is,” is one of my favorite movie quotes. It comes from the film Jarhead, which chronicles the experiences of a disenfranchised U.S. Marine, from boot camp through the Persian Gulf War and beyond. It’s a quote also applicable to what will happen Thursday starting at 7pm at Seaside City Hall, when the City Council decides whether to extend (for the third time) the exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) with Monterey Downs, the horses-n-homes-n-hotels project slated for development on the former Fort Ord.

What will happen: Activists on both sides will pack the chambers, everyone will speak for their allotted minutes, and then the council will vote 4-1 (with Jason Campbell dissenting) to continue the ENA. This will happen despite the fact there’s no water for this development to take place. Dope springs eternal.

4. The mother of all battles, take two. At 1pm Friday, health officials in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties will gather along with state Sen. Bill Monning and Supervisor Jane Parker at the Monterey County Health Department to talk about the report on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. I hope they’ll also talk about why this report was delayed for almost two years. It was supposed to be released in 2013, but the California Department of Public Health had questions and concerns, that delayed the release.

I have questions and concerns too. I asked the CDPH March 2 how many comments the CDPH offered and how many lobbyists from the beverage industry had met with CDPH officials since the research began in 2011. So far, nada. In the meantime, check out the cover story, p. 18.

3. On Feb 17, Monterey County Water Resources Agency outside counsel Nicole Granquist told Monterey County Superior Court Judge Tom Wills there was a meeting scheduled to take place between the agency and the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. And she told him, in open court, the meeting would be open to the public. At issue: Ken Harris, executive officer of the water board, had offered an opinion that the county water agency was a waste discharger and should have to disclose what’s in the water that flows to the Monterey Bay.

Since it was public and all, Weekly reporter Sara Rubin planned to attend that meeting in San Luis Obispo, as did Steve Shimek, of nonprofit Monterey Coastkeeper, which brought the lawsuit that forced Harris to issue the opinion.

Wills held off on ruling and forcing the county to disclose what’s in the runoff because he thought that meeting was public. But when the Weekly asked to attend, and the board found out Shimek planned to be there, the meeting was canceled. The various parties asked Wills to authorize a non-public meeting and scheduled a conference call with him. The call didn’t happen, the meeting was canceled and everyone is due back in court March 19. “We do not intend to engage in a debate concerning the basis for identifying the agency as a discharger,” Harris wrote in an email to Coastkeeper and the county.

2. The People’s Moss Landing Water Project (also known as Nader Agha’s desal plant) on Feb. 27 issued its draft process design report. You may recall People’s is the third desal plant proposal to be floated for Monterey County in the past few years; it’s considered by the mainstream to be an “alternative” project, but should be considered a promising alternative. If the numbers are right, they propose to produce 13,404 acre feet per year, with 9,752 AFY pumped to Seaside, and the remainder to North County. Cost estimate: $1,500-$1,600 per foot for Seaside, and an additional $400 per foot to North County. People’s is proposing open intake from Monterey Bay’s fragile ecosystem. Let’s see if they can shoot that one past the environmental impact report process.

1. Sex & Love Survey. The Weekly is doing one, now through March 11. Visit www.mcweekly.com and click on the survey box on the right side of the page. It’s anonymous, and we want to hear from you.

MARY DUAN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at mary@mcweekly.com.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected from an earlier version that misspelled attorney Nicole Granquist's last name as Granquist, and incorrectly identified Ken Harris as board director of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board; he is the executive officer of the board.