Continental Shift
Two locals plan a way to change the lives of Africa’s young women.
O n July 4, 2007, Suad Ali met Robert Pacelli at a barbecue in Monterey, 15 years and continents away from the first time their paths crossed. Back then Ali, now a Monterey resident, was ...
Aboard the Steel Beach
A look at life aboard an aircraft carrier through the eyes of a local 20-year-old woman.
Prunedale’s Brandi Holland works in one of the most uniquely dangerous job environments in the world. High-speed winds caused by landing airplanes and the open Pacific Ocean whip her body and mind. Multimillion-dollar aircraft screech ...
Seventeen Monterey County doctors are reportedly on drug company payrolls.
Could your doctor be a salesperson in disguise? Seven major pharmaceutical companies recently revealed lists of independent doctors on their payrolls, primarily to give educational and promotional speeches about their products. Independent investigative news group ...
Rare Pair
Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu share more than the same first name.
In 2004 a music manager suggested to his two clients that they play together. Clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu took their manager’s advice and sat down to play Brahms’ Clarinet Sonata No. 1. ...
Shrinking Planet
The United Nations Association Film Festival makes the globe smaller in inspiring ways.
A documentary film crew flies over the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu in a small plane. As they look down into the variegated blues of the ocean, they see a thin strip of sand, at ...
Parting the Lettuce Curtain
Lideres Campesinas uses theater to get at some of farm work’s ugliest issues.
Though the Salinas sun beats down mercilessly, many female fieldworkers wear sweatshirts. which doesn’t make sense to most people. But there’s a very good – albeit haunting – reason that they do, and Lideres Campesinas, ...
Monterey event empowers action against sexual violence in the Congo.
In the space of just six nightmarish days, July 30-Aug. 4, a reported 500 women were raped in the Congo by Rwandan and Congolese rebels. Larry Levine of Monterey’s United Nations Association saw it as ...
What is your best kept cooking secret?
Asked at Crazy Horse Restaurant in Monterey.
HILDA VEITENHEIMER | Grocery Retail Management | Monterey A: Never overcook. Then you lose all the freshness, flavor, and nutrients. Tomato Head: Vine-ripe tomatoes and basil. I love them. JUAN SALAZAR | Chef | Monterey ...
If you were an outlaw, what would you do for the people?
Asked at Valley Hills Shopping Center in Carmel.
Follow-up: What would your costume or nickname be? VERONIQUE TORNE | Social Worker | Gonzales A: In Gonzales there are all these fresh produce trucks on the side of the road. A lot of that ...
What is the strangest side job you’ve had?
Asked at Starbucks in Del Rey Oaks.
Follow-up: If you could have anything delivered, what would it be? T.K. KIMBLE | Marina| Musician A: Being a musician’s a pretty strange side job. You meet crazy people with eclectic ideas. One night I ...
What unusual pet do you wish you could have?
Asked at All Pets Hospital in Salinas.
Follow-up: What pet would be a nightmare to live with? ANTHONY PARKER | Social Worker | Salinas A: I would love to have an orangutan. They’re goofy-looking and entertaining. The kind of pet you could ...
Stand-Up Gal
An energized Carmel senior publishes a little book of inspirations.
Most people prefer to start their day with a cup of coffee. Carmel’s Harriet Shanner, 92, wakes up with a session of headstands. Every day she lifts herself onto a shoulder-bracing contraption she bought 30 ...
Some of these events are more artistic (cowboy poetry) than others (monster trucks), but all deserve a heads up.
Sept. 8 Creative Monterey County Summit: The Action Plan Update California Arts Council chair Malissa Feruzzi Shriver keynotes an event designed to set a countywide agenda for the arts sector, assess needs and opportunities and ...
Training the Eye with Art
Monterey cops take two days off the streets and in the museum.
The worlds of fine art and law enforcement met Aug. 16-17, when the Monterey Museum of Art, Presidio of Monterey and Monterey Police Deparment partnered to host an unusual seminar, “The Art of Perception.” First ...
Battle Horse Heroes
A small group of locals struggles to save Fort Ord’s unique equestrian combat history.
The saying goes that dog is man’s best friend. In times of war, though, man had no better friend than the horse. Horses fought with soldiers as long ago as the ancient wars of Egypt ...
If you could take a road trip anywhere, where would you go?
Asked at Sweet Elena’s in Sand City.
Follow-up: What would you do with one week in a seclud ed cabin? THOMAS MCNAMARA | Unemployed | Prunedale A: A bike trip up the L’Alpe d’Huez Mountain, one of the mountains in the Tour ...
Top Scotch
A look at the best of the Scottish Games music.
Scotland gave us golf, men throwing 175-pound tree trunks and food cooked inside a sheep’s stomach. As the 43rd Annual Monterey Scottish Games and Celtic Festival demonstrates every summer, it also gave us great music. ...
How would you make good use of an abandoned building?
Asked at Salinas YMCA.
Follow-up: What is your weapon of choice? LISE BELTON | Associate Executive Director | Salinas A: I would use the space for a recreational center, a space for activities such as sports, crafting and service ...
What is your weirdest hobby?
Asked at Beverly Fabrics on Fremont.
Follow-up: What is the most satisfying thing you do when no one is looking? CAROLYN SALUSKY | Barista/student | Monterey A: I like to play with knives. In particular I like to throw them at ...
