Growing impatient with the crop of political and legal obstacles in its way, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s board of directors unanimously voted Aug. 15 to step on the accelerator in carrying out the voter-supported effort to buy out private water utility California Ameri…

Elected to the Seaside City Council in November 2018, Jon Wizard was seen as a rising star in the local Democratic Party and a strong regional leader advocating for affordable housing. This past spring he ran for the California State Assembly in District 30, coming in third place in a five-w…

It was a tragically busy weekend for California Highway Patrol officers in Monterey County, who responded to three fatal collisions. Another collision in San Benito County left four members of a Carmel Valley family dead. 

The ongoing housing crisis has the state of California getting serious about cities and counties zoning for more housing units, after years of failing at creating more desperately needed homes. It's now creating discomfort for many local officials who need to add in more units to housing pla…

Nearly 30 people with colorful signs reading things like “honk for inmates' rights,” “bring back visits and video visits” and “incarcerated lives matter" gathered on Natividad Road in Salinas on Tuesday, Aug. 8, a few yards away from the Monterey County Jail: the place their loved ones have …

David Stickler takes his dog, Brutus, out on a stand-up paddleboard regularly from Lovers Point, getting some exercise, enjoying the scenery and watching the wildlife. The calm, relatively windless morning of Wednesday, Aug. 10 were ideal conditions for a paddle, so Stickler and Brutus heade…

Firefighters continue patrolling fire lines and addressing hot spots within the burn area, but the Anzar Fire has reached 85-percent containment. On Sunday afternoon, July 24, officials lifted all evacuation orders and warnings.

The power outage Thursday morning that caused over 22,000 Monterey Peninsula customers to go dark, snarled traffic and forced businesses to temporarily close was due to equipment failure, according to a PG&E spokesperson.

UPDATE: As of 7pm Friday, July 21, the Anzar Fire has destroyed one structure and is 101 acres in size. It is 25-percent contained. Communities on Forest Road, School Road, Anzar Road and Harlands Way in San Benito County are under evacuation orders. Properties along Highway 129 between High…

A power outage impacting approximately 22,000 customers hit the Monterey Peninsula at around 5:30am today, Thursday, July 21, according to a PG&E spokesperson. Originally the company estimated power would be back on by 9am, but after that passed the company estimated power would return a…

On Tuesday, July, 19, Salinas City Elementary School District announced the resignation of board member Francisco Javier Estrada. 

Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzales announced his retirement today, Friday, July 15. He will end his career in December in the same place he started: Monterey County. 

Officials in the city of Soledad will celebrate the groundbreaking of a special park Saturday, July 16, during Parks and Recreation Month. This accessible park is designed for kids with disabilities to be able to safely play and enjoy time with their friends of all abilities.

On Wednesday night, July 13, two longtime friends were sitting together watching TV at one of their homes on the 200 block of Crescent Way, in North Salinas about two blocks east of North Main Street. The resident of the home, a 64-year-old retiree, owed his friend $5 for remodeling work he'…

Gonzales City Council appointed its director of community engagement and strategic partnership as interim city manager. Carmel Gil has been acting as interim city manager since June 20 after the departure of long-time city manager Rene Mendez, who became Watsonville's city manager on July 1.

Controversial former Carmel mayor Steve Dallas was known to enjoy attending high-priced ticket events like Car Week auctions and wine tastings while he served in office from 2016-2018. That fondness for such tony events now has him in hot water with the California Fair Political Practices Co…

Three weeks ago, Steve Bruemmer, aka "Fast Steve" as he is known to his swimming friends, was out on a beautiful, sunny day at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. He swam about a mile-and-a-half in unusually calm, clear water. When he just off the rocky point, about 150 yards from the beach where…

Just shy of two weeks after Eduardo Ochoa retired after 10 years as president of CSU Monterey Bay on June 30, the CSU Board of Trustees announced his replacement this morning, Vanya Quiñones, who currently serves as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Pace University…

Different shades of green are grown in Monterey County fields. In the county’s biggest industry there is variety: more than 30 kinds of crops are grown. Officials say this diversity mitigated the impacts of wildfires and the Covid-19 pandemic, and helped the industry begin a rebound.

The city of Monterey announced in a statement this morning that longtime mayor and council member Clyde Roberson would not be seeking reelection.

This is not your grandparents' dump. And the change in scope as well as name reflects that. 

Pacific Grove knows how to throw a party. Really. And the community loves fast motorcycles. No, it’s true.

Incumbent Pacific Grove councilmembers Amy Tomlinson and Jenny McAdams both announced last night they will not run for reelection on November 8.

For weeks, supporters of affordable childcare and early education worked against the clock to gather over 11,616 signatures to get a measure on Monterey County voters' ballots this November that would fund and expand these services in Monterey County. 

Earlier this year, state Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, rushed a bill through the California legislature in 19 days to create the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District in order to save Watsonville Community Hospital, the closest hospital for over 6,500 North Monterey County residents.

Starting today, July 1, the Salinas Public Library will no longer charge late or overdue fines. Outstanding fines have been eliminated.

There is just one good old-fashioned fireworks show in Monterey County this year to celebrate the Fourth of July, at dusk on Monday, July 4, at Patriot Park in Greenfield. There are several cities that allow the sale and use of so-called safe and sane fireworks—the small ones that go off rel…

More than a year after the original conviction, a Monterey County Superior Court judge ruled on June 28 against a motion to retry the case of Joseph Sampognaro Jr., who was convicted last year in a jury trial for the September 2020 murder of his father, Joseph Sampognaro Sr. in Carmel Valley. 

The City of Pacific Grove is about to share a city attorney with its neighbor Carmel. The P.G. City Council will vote tomorrow, Wednesday, June 29, to retain Brian Pierik of Camarillo-based Burke, Williams & Sorrenson, LLP, as the city's new attorney, effective July 1.

It's already been a long path for the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway—aka FORTAG. After a decade of imagining and planning, not a single foot of trail has yet been built. 

If the final tally holds, Glenn Church will face Regina Gage in the November general election runoff for Monterey County District 2 supervisor after Gage narrowly held off Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig for second place in the crowded six-candidate race to represent North County. 

Results for the 2022 California Primary Election trickled in throughout the evening on Election Day, June 7, with early voting and vote-by-mail totals first announced around 8pm. This page will update as results come in throughout the evening and following days. As is the case with primary e…

The public outcry over the decision announced this morning, Friday, June 24, by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade—and nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to have an abortion—was swift. Activists mobilized quickly to organize two protests taking place in Monterey County t…

Covid-19 vaccines for children between the ages of 6 months to 4 years will be available from the Monterey County Health Department's Public Health Bureau beginning tomorrow, Saturday, June 25.

Robert Wellington was the city of Marina's first city attorney, starting in 1975 when the city incorporated. And he served for 47 years in that role, until now as he downsizes his workload. 

Monterey-Salinas Transit is holding three public hearings over the next few weeks to receive public comments on a proposed new fare structure. 

A swimmer who was bitten by a shark around 10:30am on Wednesday, June 22, is doing well after surgery. The success of life-saving measures is thanks to the swift response of bystanders who got the injured swimmer to shore as emergency responders arrived; the Monterey Fire Department's boat c…

A Greenfield police officer is under investigation for felony assault and dissuading a witness. On June 10, the Monterey District Attorney's Office issued a warrant for Christopher Tapia's arrest. 

The evening of Election Day inevitably feels like a frenzy for candidates and their supporters, awaiting initial results. But the first results that come in around 8pm from the Monterey County Elections Department represent just a partial count—those are vote-by-mail ballots returned prior t…

A forecast offered by a retail property expert of the Mid Valley Shopping Center in Carmel Valley on June 14 was grim. If it can't be updated and refreshed to meet the changing retail landscape, in about six years its value would drop from $9 million to approximately $4.3 million, Norman Hul…

Summer is here, and with it, the relatively hot, dry, windy conditions that are especially prone to wildfire in California. The Monterey-San Benito Unit of Cal Fire is fully staffed given the season, and they've been busy—on Monday and Tuesday this week, June 13-14, they put out four fires.

Andrew Chyo, 26, was well known around both Pacific Grove's high school and middle school. Since 2015 he could be seen helping staff at events, working as an instructional assistant or tutor, or as a volunteer at P.G. High School athletic events, including during the past school year.

The Monterey County Elections Office processed 12,618 more ballots for the latest election results, published just after 4pm on Tuesday, June 14. While those results show some changes, they appear to lock in the early results in the race for Monterey County sheriff.