Voices of Monterey Bay

In her four days working in the Monterey County Jail, registered nurse Michelle Nattrass was struck by three things — the dingy, dirty cells, the overwhelming workload caused by the endless stream of incoming inmates and how icy cold one inmate felt when she tried to take his pulse.

As we voters get ready to mark our ballots, some of the races will be in new or realigned districts. I concur with the recommendations for the next redistricting cycle approved by the League of Women Voters of Monterey County after observing and participating in the process this last year:

A local hero and a one-of-a-kind Chicano activist, archivist and warrior has died. Juan Martinez passed away on May 10 after a long battle with cancer. Juan defied all the odds and remained a fighter to the end. Inspired at an early age after he and his father came upon...

Three Voices of Monterey Bay Young Media Project participants joined the California Youth Media Network Statewide Conference earlier this month. The conference was held in Oakland from April 30-May 1, and was an opportunity for our budding journalists to brush up their journalistic skills, to see other young people showcase their work, and to tour the gorgeous San Francisco Bay.

Unreported suicide deaths in the Monterey County Jail raise continuing questions about safety procedures, staff shortages and training. Candidates for sheriff agree external investigations are necessary. By Royal Calkins. The way Carlos Chavez’s widow sees it, her husband had no reason to kill himself even though he was in the...

Despite a concerted effort to make jail and prison cells “suicide proof,” inmate suicides increased by nearly 40 percent in the past two decades, according to a recent report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The bureau calculated that a remarkable 6,200 inmates, mostly people who were...

The Read to Me Project, a nonprofit organization that helps under-served children achieve kindergarten readiness, announces Julia Foster as its new executive director. Out of a field of highly qualified applicants, Julia Foster became the top candidate with significant breadth and depth of nonprofit and leadership experience. Foster will take the helm on Monday, June 6th. Board Chair Jen Ortega Uribe says, “In addition to her leadership experience, Ms. Foster impressed the executive search committee during the interview process with her forward- thinking responses, strategic logic, and enthusiasm for Read to Me Project’s vision: ‘Every child enters kindergarten ready to succeed.’ We look forward to working with Julia to expand and deepen Read to Me Project’s literacy impacts on under-served children and their families.”

Monterey County supervisors decided this week to stop paying the legal expenses for sheriff’s Capt. Joe Moses and two associates who are defendants in an increasingly complicated defamation lawsuit stemming from the sheriff’s race of 2018. Moses, Commander Mark Caldwell and retired Commander Archie Warren, all supporters of...

An off-year primary election may not generate a heap of interest among voters, but local special interests are spending like drunken sailors this year, throwing money at candidates in two Monterey County campaigns. With a month remaining before Election Day, candidates for Monterey County sheriff and the county supervisorial seat...

As has been said many times in many places, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In the case of science illustrators, those pictures are not about just being beautiful works of art, but also illuminating scientific ideas and principles. The public will once again be able to...

The League of Women Voters of Monterey County will present a free talk titled: “Climate Change: Advocating for Action” at a live-streamed General Meeting at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and many other sources, reinforce that the...

My home is located across the street from two fast food restaurants right off Highway 101, a very convenient location for travelers who need to stretch their legs and get a bite from their favorite hamburger joint. I’m not going to tell you what the eateries are, but if you’ve ever driven by Salinas, you may get the idea. The tourists block the access to my home every weekend, a source of constant irritation for my spouse, my neighbors and yours truly.

Monterey County Administrator Charles McKee, a key county figure for 18 years, announced Tuesday that he will leave the position at the end of the year. Members of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors were unanimous in praise for McKee’s performance, but sources close to the board said some frustrations had developed, much of it related to problematic and costly litigation facing the county.

Sneakers aren’t just a sports accessory anymore — now, people collect them like you would a piece of art or a rare bottle of wine. The people who collect them, known as “sneakerheads,” are riding a trend that has grown astronomically in the past five years. Rare sneakers are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, and even more modestly priced athletic footwear can be desirable and collectible.

Jesús Comache survived the black plague that swept through Mexico in the 1880s. He eventually immigrated to the United States, where he was a trusted vaquero for a South Monterey County cattleman for nearly 30 years. He died in 1923, and no one knew exactly how old he might have been.

Monterey County sheriff candidate Joe Moses and two other sheriff’s commanders suffered a big loss this week when an appellate court reinstated a defamation lawsuit filed against them for falsely accusing three political opponents of various crimes four years ago. Making matters worse for the county government, which has...

This article was co-published with palabra. and an earlier version appeared in The Hechinger Report. Ask any 11th grader and they’ll tell you: Applying to college is a cutthroat competition. Thousands of high school seniors apply to highly ranked universities, hoping their academics and extracurriculars will set them apart from the crowd.

I’m a fine art photographer living in Pacific Grove and I’ve been a fan of Wynn Bullock’s work since the ‘70s in ”The Family of Man” coffee table book and Black and White magazine Wynn and his friends were the pillars of the Monterey Photography Legacy that drew me to this area from my hometown of Hartford, Conn.

Photos by Carlos René Castro and Claudia Meléndez Salinas. If you want to witness the type of impact Ciclovía is having in Salinas, all you have to do is look at Daniela Jiménez. The 24-year-old coordinator of the popular event volunteered for her first Ciclovía in 2014, the second ever. At the time she was still in high school, and afterwards she remained connected to her city through the outdoors extravaganza.

The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) Monterey County is pleased to announce the appointment of Victoria Mills as Chapter Director. Mills currently serves as a student affairs professional at CSU Monterey Bay. NCBIMC Chapter Director Sue Parris is stepping down after 29 years, but will continue supporting the local. Chapter...