Monterey County, CA

Back in the 1960s, after she became disenchanted with fame and its drawbacks, “Vertigo” star Kim Novak packed her bags, loaded up a van and left the bright glare of Hollywood at the apex of her career. She first settled in a blufftop oceanfront refuge in the affluent enclave of Carmel Highlands, and though she’s long since decamped Carmel in favor of Oregon, where the accomplished artist is now whiling away her days painting, Novak’s former coastal compound on exclusive Spindrift Lane is now on the market with a $12.5 million price tag, complete with one-of-a-kind vistas of the enchanting scenic coastline.

Only one person is currently hospitalized for Covid-19 in all of Monterey County as of today, down from a high of 217 patients on Jan. 15. That hospitalizations began falling after that date is no mistake. It's just a few weeks after vaccines became available to health care workers and near the start of vaccinations of the public.

NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY—The North Monterey County Fire Protection District is ushering in a new era. A month after announcing it will promote longtime employee Joel Mendoza to Fire Chief, the North County Fire Board of Directors celebrated the approval of a benefit assessment that will allow the small district to hire more firefighters and replace some of its aging trucks.

BIG SUR – The Willow Fire in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest is 13% contained with 2,877 acres burned so far after firefighters took advantage of continued favorable weather conditions and moderate fire activity. Weather and fire behavior Tuesday allowed crews to prepare contingency lines along...

Sara Rubin here, writing from my beloved home, which is owned by a benevolent landlord who hasn’t raised the rent for two years, and whose son and daughter-in-law (my neighbors) manage the place. It’s a great set-up and I love it here, but every few months—usually whenever I have the urge to tear out a piece of shrubbery—I get an urge to look at real estate listings. Could I possibly buy a house (and wantonly tear out nonnative landscaping)?

The Board of Supervisors has approved a budget—but difficult decisions still lie ahead. Christopher Neely here, thinking about all the money governments have to manage in order to make things work. A constant refrain during the Covid-19 public health crisis was how the shuttering of entire economies would impact government...

California's Willow Fire has scorched nearly 3,000 acres since igniting last week and evacuations and concerns mounted Tuesday in and beyond Monterey County. The 2,848-acre wildfire, located in Monterey's Los Padres National Forest, was still 0% contained, though the Los Padres National Forest’s U.S. Forest Service said on social media that cooler temperatures and an increase in humidity had helped the efforts of the now more than 510 people working to douse the flames.

The city of Monterey is ready to connect the Bike Lane to Nowhere to somewhere, and is asking for community feedback on the North Fremont Bike and Pedestrian Improvement Project. The Transportation Agency for Monterey County presents on the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway (FORTAG). 6-7:30pm Thursday, June 24....

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. — The Willow Fire burning in the Los Padres National Forest has burned 2,877 acres and is 19% contained as of Thursday morning, the U.S. Forest Service reported. The fire started Thursday, June 17, west of Arroyo Seco Campground. In total, 100 homes and 25 commercial buildings...

Looming questions over the future of water around the Monterey Peninsula – who will provide it? Where will it come from? – are nearing answers as the bureaucratic process around the voter-supported condemnation of California American Water’s local system picks up. Implementation of the public takeover of Cal Am that...

SALINAS (BCN) A Monterey County jury found 39-year-old Ignacio Ramirez guilty of sexually assaulting three people, including two who are family members who were children at the time of the attacks. For two of his victims, the assaults occurred multiple times over a period of several years, according to a...

BIG SUR – As the Willow Fire approaches 3,000 acres burned, cooler temperatures and an increase in relative humidity on Tuesday has allowed firefighting resources to initiate a direct attack on the eastern edge of the fire at Marble Creek Trail as well as continuing to strengthen contingency lines around the fire perimeter.