Helping Heal

On Saturday, Leticia Magaña Gonzalez, 18, died in a fatal car accident on Highway 101 south of Salinas.

Her family, the Magañas, in their time of sorrow, are struggling to raise the funds necessary to pay for her funeral–an estimated cost of $7,000.

Magana Gonzalez, a graduate of Alisal High School, was working at Aloha Hawaiian Barbecue in Salinas. (Her photograph appeared in “Feast,” Sept. 22-28.) Her co-worker and friend Jorge Lopez says, “She was one of the happiest, nicest people I knew. She told me a lot of stories about her family and her plans for the future.”

Magaña Gonzalez also belonged to a church group at St. Mary of the Nativity, which has distributed canisters to collect donations for the funeral.

An account has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank to fund Leticia Magaña Gonzalez’ funeral. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo branch to account number 9-434-33-6245. [CB]

Founding Mother

Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the US Congress—before women even had the right to vote—spent the last years of her life in Carmel Valley Manor. The production A Single Woman, which will be performed in Monterey at 7:30pm on Oct. 1, commemorates her life as an activist.

The Nevada Shakespeare Company will stage the production at the MPC Theatre. It begins with Rankin’s childhood in Montana during the 1880s and ends with her last televised interview in 1972. Janet Lenihan, chair of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, says Rankin’s years were filled with a passion for peace. She voted against both World Wars, and led a brigade to Washington to protest the Vietnam War. She died in 1973.

“She was a radical old lady and a fabulous character who fought for peace and justice,” Lenihan says. “She really stood for what she believed in.” [RG]

Thinking Sustainability

Learn how to conserve energy, cut costs, and find alternatives to gasoline and coal at the annual Northern California Solar Home Tour and Sustainability Fair, held Oct. 1 from 9am to 4pm at Carmel Valley Middle School.

This fair addresses these concerns by presenting information on how solar energy works, what it costs and how it benefits customers and the environment.

For more information, call Rising Leaf Watershed Arts at 624-9467 or visit www.norcalsolar.org/tour/monterey. [CB]