Monterey County in the Time of Coronavirus (Sept. 28, 2020-present)
As health professionals, government institutions and the public at large confront the novel coronavirus Covid-19, the Weekly has been reporting on various local effects of the virus. From health to event cancellations and economic impact, our coverage, from newest to oldest, is compiled here.
For our earliest stories (from Jan. 30, 2020-May 26, 2020), click here. For later stories (May 27-Sept. 28, 2020), click here.
Sara Rubin here, writing with a pleasantly sore upper arm. Although technically I do not become eligible for a Covid-19 vaccination in Montere…
The weekend's Covid-19 mass vaccination clinic by Natividad Medical Center at Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas successfully administered…
A few universal truths have held evident for the high school seniors participating in online learning across the country. We won’t recognize f…
Hundreds of people did not show up for their appointments on Saturday for a mass Covid-19 vaccine clinic hosted by Natividad Medical Center at…
Eva Suarez sits in the passenger seat of her coworker’s car waiting to receive her first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at a pop-up clinic in Spre…
Monterey County businesses and activities currently operating under Red Tier guidelines will officially open up more under the less restrictiv…
For weeks it's felt like an impossible treasure hunt to find a Covid-19 vaccine appointment in Monterey County, but now, with a an influx of v…
Norma Estevez is a child care provider in Salinas who was eager to get the Covid-19 vaccine. But when she became eligible on Feb. 17, it was a…
These North Salinas High School students are selling cookie dough to raise money for Covid relief.
Mariza Martinez, a farmworker and mother of five, was already busy. Now she is up to a new challenge: being a community health worker for Buil…
The warm weather over the last weekend of March was reminiscent of summertime, as were the large crowds gathering at beaches and restaurant pa…
Right after Monterey County moved out of the Purple Tier and into the less restrictive Red Tier, the state posted Covid-19 case numbers on Mar…
As Covid-19 vaccines began trickling down to hospitals and clinics early on, the VA was vaccinating its patients, but only those veterans who …
After 13 months of the famous Jelly Cam in the virtual world during the Covid-19 pandemic, it's almost time to see the jellies in real life. T…
The good, the bad and the ugly of government transparency during a pandemic.
Formal and informal child care providers can now register to receive Covid-19 vaccinations in Monterey County, says Francine Rodd, executive d…
For all the controversy at the state level over the Gov. Gavin Newsom's deal with Blue Shield to be the third-party administrator delivering C…
Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to put insurance company Blue Shield in charge of Covid-19 statewide vaccination distribution was met with harsh crit…
Monterey County's new status in the Red Tier for California's Blueprint for Safer Economy means gyms can open up indoors to 10-percent capacit…
Remember going out to the movies? That hasn't been a thing since March of 2020, but some theaters in Monterey County are reopening their doors…
How state distribution channels impacted vaccine availability in Monterey County.
Going to your usual spot to grab a drink or a meal has been a challenge in the past year, with rules that changed then changed again – first i…
Bryan Ibarra, 24, left, who has been living at Victory Mission in Salinas for the past two months, receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnso…
On March 11, President Joe Biden Signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, including $1,400 stimulus check…
FIRST THERE WERE TWO. Covid-19 came to Monterey County in March 2020, with the first two cases announced by Monterey County Health Officer Edw…
Dr. Edward Moreno was appointed as Monterey County’s health officer in 2013, inheriting a long list of responsibilities. Those include oversee…
All funerals begin with a death. Despite the varying practices of many religions and cultures surrounding death, many are social interactions.…
It’s a toss-up between a waiting game and a guessing game for Covid-19 vaccinations in Monterey County. With limited vaccine doses flowing in …
The county's first Covid-19 vaccination clinics for unhoused people were held on Tuesday, March 16, with vaccines supplied by the Monterey Fir…
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, contemplating my new daily ritual. I could call it “One Year Ago Today,” although that’s not a particularly crea…
Monterey County is finally breaking out of the Purple Tier and headed into Red Tier territory as of March 17, exactly one year after the count…
A Monterey County Superior Court judge ordered the electrical service to Aloha Coffee & Cafe be cut until owner Richard Dunnuck reapplies …
The Salinas businessman and property owner who allowed one of his tenants to hold a livestream concert of a popular Mexican band has been char…
For months, state health officials have updated the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy every Tuesday, reflecting the latest county-by-co…
The plot of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf is easy to follow: There is a dangerous wolf in the woods. The wolf swallows a duck alive. C…
FREE SPEECHIt’s a “clear infringement” on freedom of the press. So states an editorial in the Des Moines Register, about the arrest and prosec…
When schools shut down in Monterey County a year ago, it happened suddenly, before any cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the county.
Monterey County is still in the Purple Tier, but inching closer to the Red Tier.
The city of Soledad celebrates its centennial today, Tuesday, March 9 with some creative Covid-safe festivities. There’s a cake contest at 2pm…
The idea last year was two-fold: The government would pay restaurants, serving as a bit of an economic stimulus for an industry in need, to co…
Former congressman, CIA director and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta has a lot of friends in high places to draw from in putting toget…
Playgrounds and courts were restricted areas in the city of Salinas but since the case rate in Monterey County has dropped to 10.1 cases per 1…
At least 20,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered by Montage Health on the Monterey Peninsula as of Friday, March 5, accord…
In the Before Times, Angelina’s Bakery was a morning destination, offering coffee alongside an impressive pastry case, plus some modest breakf…
On a windy and sunny Wednesday afternoon, several families were at Natividad Creek park in Salinas. Some kids were playing soccer in a cohort;…
Thanks to social media, we’ve all seen the pictures: Parties at private homes that spill into the neighborhood, large gatherings at local park…
We asked readers to share their pet stories, and photos, with the Weekly. Read on to meet some of the furry friends living among us…
Lo que no sabíamos hace un año y lo que sabemos ahora.
Mary Duan here, with remembrances and requests.
Black and Latino populations should be prioritized for the Covid-19 vaccine. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Black American…
How to cope with hitting the pandemic wall, again.
Francisco Luevano keeps his gaze focused downward at the chess boards of his five competitors, who are seated in an L formation. He’s playing …
Covid-19 has taken a toll on everyone, but some are experiencing it harder than others.
For John Wineglass, his first piece as the first-ever composer-in-residence of the Monterey Symphony had to be about another first – living th…
At the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad last July 20, a group of agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitat…
Keeping up with California's rules for reopening schools can feel like it requires an advanced class in and of itself. New metrics and guideli…
The rumor started flying locally the morning of Monday, Feb. 22, that Gov. Gavin Newsom was about to announce more Covid-19 vaccines for Monte…
It’s a toss-up between a waiting game and a guessing game for Covid-19 vaccinations in Monterey County. With limited vaccine doses flowing in …
Dealing with harsh conditions that included smoke-choked skies from last year’s wildfires and the constant fear of getting Covid-19 was how Ma…
Paradoxically, locked-down pandemic life can open up different possibilities.
The “cautious” part of “cautiously optimistic.”
The Monterey County Health Department announced yesterday that up to 70 percent of the Covid-19 virus circulating in the county is the L452R v…
American flags, each representing one of the 313 people in Monterey County who have died from Covid-19, decorated the lawn at Lovers Point Par…
MY FATHER IS AWAKE BEFORE THE SUN RISES. MY MOTHER, UP BEFORE BOTH OF THEM, LABORS AT THE STOVE. Breakfast is a plate of chilaquiles, a cup of…
A cautiously optimistic view of the Covid-19 vaccination situation.
This memorial installation at Lovers Point in P.G., sponsored by the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce and The Paul Mortuary, honors the lives…
As of Feb. 16, the adjusted Covid-19 case rate in Monterey County has fallen below 25 per 100,000 people. This means K-6 schools and transitio…
It's a bright, sunshiny day in Monterey County today with an afternoon temperature of around 60 degrees, but almost everywhere else outside of…
It’s a toss-up between a waiting game and a guessing game for Covid-19 vaccinations in Monterey County. With limited vaccine doses flowing in …
With words like “social distancing,” “isolation” and “quarantine” becoming a regular part of everyone’s vocabulary, it may be natural to assum…
A guy in my office is fond of saying that perfection is the enemy of the good. While nobody was expecting perfection from the expansion of vac…
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, BUT LET’S SAY IT ANYWAY: THE AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM WILL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT THIS YEAR. With Covid-19 restrictio…
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, thinking about how our differences show up in what we choose to prioritize. During this afternoon’s Monterey Cou…
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, thinking about the people we turn to when we need support with our health. For residents of the wild, winding co…
There are 67,000 veterans enrolled in the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. The highest concentration of senior veterans in the system live her…
The Papillon Center for Loss and Transformation has, since its launch in 2013, used butterflies as a metaphor for helping people face the loss…
After an intense surge of Covid-19 cases after the holidays, Monterey County's numbers are falling and hospitals are seeing a decrease in pati…
On Feb. 1, just a few hours before a jury in Dept. 5 of Monterey County Superior Court was to hear final arguments and begin deliberations on …
The negative reaction to news on Tuesday that two of the cities in Monterey County least impacted by Covid-19—Monterey and Carmel—were getting…
AT THE SHINY, NEW MONTEREY CONFERENCE CENTER, THE STEINBECK BALLROOM TRANSFORMED INTO A JAZZ CLUB. Complete with moodily lit stages, young mus…
When you use the word “equitable” people expect things to be, well, equal.
A troubled attorney who resigned from practicing law while facing multiple disciplinary proceedings. A suspect in a notorious 2016 Salinas mur…
OUTDOOR DINING, IN WINTER… The state of California lifted its Covid-19 regional lockdowns on Jan. 25, which means outdoor dining is allowed ag…
Local school districts have been ready to re-open schools for in-person learning, but Covid-19 case rates in Monterey County keep pushing the …
You know that feeling you get when you find a stray $20 bill in your coat pocket? Imagine finding $20 million. That’s what happened to Montere…
The supply of Covid-19 vaccines coming into Monterey County is still limited but Montage Health isn't waiting to launch two vaccination clinic…
Health has been on all our minds a lot in the past year.
Tired after working an eight-hour shift in the fields under hot sun or cold rain is how many farmworkers feel when they get to the United Farm…
Any tenant behind on the rent due to the pandemic who's been worried about getting evicted after Jan. 31 now has five more months to remain in…
It's still a work in progress, but the Monterey County Health Department has launched a Covid-19 vaccination registration site, currently only…
The biennial homeless census is a massive undertaking. For a single day, usually around February, the census enlists approximately 200 volunte…
“We’ve got this big crisis and you’re telling me to open up a window? Yes, I’m telling you to open up the window…”
The deadliest jobs in this past pandemic-driven year were not to be found in health care or first responders. They were to be found among rest…
Mikaela Arista, a three-sport athlete from Alisal High School, is bummed she hasn’t been able to compete this year. But when she’s not in Zoom…
“The next three to six months will be key in determining how many gyms can survive and how many people will want to go back.…"
FREE SPEECHCall it The Purge, social media-style. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the social media platform T…
‘I’m not saying our products prevent the flu, but what I can say is this is what the research says.…’”
There are now about 10 or so tests on the market with authorization by the Food and Drug Administration that are either PCR or antigen, all requiring a prescription…
It's the word many of Monterey County's residents over age 75 and their families have been waiting to hear for weeks: As of today, Jan. 25, th…
Debbie Aguilar devoted much of her life to advocating for those who had died and the family members who outlive them. After losing her own son…
And just like that, the California Department of Public Health ended the Covid-19 regional stay-at-home order today, Jan. 25, with almost no n…
There is an apt analogy for the current situation that is the Covid-19 vaccine rollout: We’re building the plane as we fly it.
The arc of history is long and it binds us to each other.
You’ve seen them: the man perched on the hood of his car in Carmel, eating a burger. The couple (and a seagull, naturally) sitting on a bus st…
Third party food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have grown in popularity during the pandemic among people who are doing exactly…
Here’s a selected list of questions and answers…
Vaccine supply is low. The rollout has been marked by disconnects, missteps and miscommunications…
The city of Seaside is deciding how to use a second round of federal coronavirus relief funds. The roughly $340,000 grant adds to the previous…
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has been identified in Monterey County and other counties using genetic sequenci…
Along Highway 1 in Big Sur, the Point Sur Lighthouse is among the most iconic features. Here, the coastline abruptly changes from high, windin…
Vaccine town hall attendance shows how many people are clamoring to be vaccinated.
FIELD FRESH… With Covid lockdowns still in full effect, many people are turning to grocery pickup and delivery services. One local option incl…
In spring of 2020, the wave of cancellations for events large and small kept coming as it became clear the pandemic was not a few-weeks or eve…
Aloha Coffee & Cafe owner Richard Dunnuck tried to claim that his status as a "living, breathing, natural-born citizen of this land" meant…
FREE SPEECHIt came from the mouth of someone who should have known better. On Jan. 7, veteran Fresno-area radio host Ray Appleton opined that …
Like a SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading from person to person, an email invite from Monterey County officials for the vaccine against the disease it…
Remember back to the early days of the pandemic, before the scale of the public health crisis – and the ensuing economic crisis – was made cle…
Any hope for some businesses to reopen and outdoor dining to return on Monday must be put on hold yet again. The California Department of Publ…
2020 was an unusual year in the California Legislature, too. The Covid-19 pandemic sent lawmakers home (and onto video conferencing software) …
Sweden has attracted a lot of hostility due to its refusal to implement draconian lockdowns in response to Covid-19. Since March, articles hav…
FREE SPEECHThat journalism can be a dangerous profession is not a new idea, but reporting in the field during a global pandemic has created a …
At Aloha Coffee & Cafe in Monterey, online reviewers laud it for its coffee ("very flavorful, smooth, and just the right amount of sweet,"…
It started the night of Jan. 1 with an unrelenting headache and morphed into joint pain so bad that sleep was out of the question.
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newson proposed a plan to safely reopen elementary schools in the state. The focus will be among young students from …
What an abjectly and objectively awful year you’ve been, 2020. I don’t know that any of us are better for having met you, and I don’t know any…
FREE SPEECHIt’s been a wild year in a lot of ways, including for journalists in the United States. Based on data compiled by the U.S. Press Fr…
With more than 12,000 Covid-19 vaccines arriving in Monterey County since early December, nearly all hospital employees have had the opportuni…
Frank Doss pushes an empty red cart across the parking lot of Good Nite Inn after unloading belongings in his second-floor unit. It’s not a ho…
Overwhelmingly, Covid-19 has not been kind to the restaurant industry. Across the country – and close to home – restaurants have closed in dro…
JUST SAY ALOHA… In this year of weird, Squid thought nothing could surprise Squid anymore. But then came news, published in the Ecological Soc…
Yes I will get the vaccine.
In a normal year, veteran First Night volunteer Diane Dahm would coordinate over 100 volunteers throughout Monterey. She lists their assignmen…
Alerts in English and Spanish pinged on cell phones all over Monterey County Wednesday as health officials sought to remind people that ringin…
This is exactly the kind of showdown that health officials had hoped to avoid, hence repeated visits to businesses in violation of health code…
All Jeffrey LeTowt, owner of Carmel's Tuck Box restaurant, had to do was obey a June 12 court order for earlier violations of the shelter-in-p…
In a special council meeting on Dec. 17, Marina City Council approved to extend its small business loans and residential loans programs to aid…
When Covid-19 forced the Monterey-based nonprofit children’s museum MY Museum to close, Executive Director Lauren Cohen knew she needed to fin…
With no visitation since the start of the pandemic and only sporadic communication through letters or other inmates, K. is receiving very litt…
Here’s an easy Christmas wish list: stuff I miss doing. Going out to dinner, hosting dinner parties for friends, reading a newspaper at a coff…
FREE SPEECHOn Dec. 15, CSU Monterey Bay students gathered in a Zoom meeting with local journalists and communications experts to talk about th…
FANCY TAKE OUT… A Michelin-starred restaurant offering to-go plates? My monocle almost fell out from the shock, but it’s true. Due to Covid-19…
Monterey County health inspectors have paid a whopping 1,971 visits to businesses since September. Their inspections include the routine stuff…
On finding ways to appreciate what we have this holiday season.
Here’s what it’s like to own a Christmas tree farm during a pandemic.
Concerned that three months would not be enough time to train and effectively deploy 100 community health care workers in the neighborhoods wi…
With a sense of urgency to combat Covid-19 among the Latino neighborhoods where the virus has wreaked the most havoc, the Monterey County Boar…
Radiological Technologist Matthew Wafford had trouble sleeping Thursday night, beset with a mixture of nervousness and excitement knowing he w…
Opening up today's Monterey County Covid-19 Daily Situation Report probably dropped a few jaws and caused some people to do a double take. The…
In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, Dec. 16, the Carmel Unified School District Board of Trustees approved hybrid in-person learning for ele…
Applause and cheers followed the first few Covid-19 vaccinations administered today, Dec. 17, at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.
Winter is typically a slow time for resorts and hotels in Monterey County, except the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Pebble Beach Reso…
FREE SPEECHDoes Facebook have too much control? According to Dec. 9 lawsuits filed against the social media giant by the Federal Trade Commiss…
A Seaside brewery is doing what it can to keep afloat during ever-changing Covid-19 restrictions. Like many businesses, Other Brother Beer Co.…
Outside the emergency room department at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, between 30,000 and 40,000 patients have been screened in a tent in …
2020 hasn’t given us too much love, but it doesn’t mean we should do the same.
