Wrongest Number

WRONGEST NUMBER… Squid’s eight arms and two tentacles make Squid as good at texting as those with opposable thumbs, but even Squid messes up sometimes. Squid once sent a text and got back the response, “Who dis?” The text was delivered to a random orca annoyed with the intrusion. While Squid’s mistake was met with a huff, an alleged text from suspect Wesley Langkamp to the wrong phone landed him in jail.

Just after 12:30pm on Thursday, Aug. 17, a Monterey Police officer received a text on his department-issued cell phone from an unknown source, according to MPD. The sender – unaware the receiver was a police officer – stated he had a gun and wanted help confronting a group of men. The sender also described where he was on North Fremont Street and what his vehicle looked like. Officers headed over to the location and found the vehicle just as described, with Langkamp, 38, of Pacific Grove, sitting inside. A search turned up a loaded Glock handgun, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. Langkamp was arrested on several firearm and drug charges and was booked into Monterey County Jail with bail set at $40,000.

Squid’s appendages are also handy for counting, but even Squid can’t calculate the odds of a criminal plan being texted to a police department phone in the same city as where the plan is set to unfold. It’s a mistext that wound up as a big mistake.

MONEY GROWS… For four years, starting in 2015, the City of Salinas hosted the Forbes Reinventing America Summit. Each year, Squid oozed over to eat some salad and learn about the latest in ag tech. And each year, Squid wondered: Was Salinas getting its $250,000 sponsorship’s worth in economic activity?

Now, Forbes is back after a pandemic hiatus, and told city officials they’d like to host the fifth annual summit in 2024, this time in collaboration with the nonprofit Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), a nod to the workers in the fields – not workers in suits.

Salinas City Council was set to discuss the potential for ponying up another $250,000 on Aug. 22, after the Weekly’s deadline, but they’d already heard from people who are not thrilled with the prospect. Steve Ish, president of the Salinas City Center Improvement Association, sent a letter saying the city should spend their money wisely: “We don’t want to compromise our credibility by allowing expenditures for downtown events without the proper public review,” he wrote. Kevin Dayton, on behalf of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, asked: “Has anyone determined the return on investment to the city for this $250,000 annual contribution?”

As far as Squid can tell, no – and unless an ag technologist figures out how to grow a money tree, it doesn’t pencil out.