Monterey County Government News

KING CITY — King City Mayor Mike LeBarre announced the city has reached a balanced budget for the first time in 16 years during last week’s State of the City luncheon. “This year for the first time since June 30, …

Only days after the Colorado Fire sparked and quickly scorched nearly 700 acres of the Big Sur coastline, Cal Fire announced the cause: aided by strong winds, hot embers escaped a private property burn pile and ignited nearby vegetation. The…

SALINAS — As the decennial redistricting process wrapped up last month, the concern from The World’s Salad Bowl started to mount. Local politicians, regional business giants and other community leaders asked how a plan to pair the international agricultural hub …

Lori Long describes her dating life in her 40s like many people who turn to online dating: “I had low expectations.” But she was accustomed to informing her first dates about expectations before meeting her in person: When they would…

When it comes to California’s new composting law, people have questions. Many, many questions.

After nearly 20 years as Monterey County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder, Steve Vagnini will not be seeking re-election in 2022. He has worked in the office for 35 years, and was elected to five four-year terms, for the first time in 2001.

While other California cities are embracing one of the biggest trends of the Covid-19 pandemic, outdoor dining parklets, tiny Carmel-by-the-Sea has been struggling with the concept for at least a year, with numerous attempts to remove temporary parklets from the…

It’s not yet clear how much Covid-19 will impact our commuting habits long-term, but it does seem clear there will be an impact. An October study from analytics firm Gallup found that 45 percent of the American workforce worked remotely…

That State Sen. Anna Caballero is running for re-election, seeking what would be her final four-year term in the State Senate before terming out of the California Legislature is no surprise. That the former Salinas mayor and long-time Salinas resident…

How Monterey County is represented in Sacramento and Washington in the 2020s will look much different than the 2010s after the state commission tasked with redrawing district boundaries unanimously approved stark changes along the Central Coast.

In a 4-1 vote, the Seaside City Council passed an urgency ordinance on Thursday, Dec. 16 that will essentially kneecap Senate Bill 9, a new state housing bill that takes effect Jan. 1. The law will theoretically allow homeowners to…

GONZALES — City of Gonzales has announced that 13 students from Gonzales High School have been selected to serve on the 2021-22 Gonzales Youth Council. Youth Commissioners Autumn Escobedo and Sherlyn Flores-Magadan, both juniors, are returning for another year, alongside …

SOLEDAD — A multimillion-dollar bridge rehabilitation project near Soledad has been approved by the California Transportation Commission (CTC). Last week CTC allocated more than $495 million for various projects to fix and improve transportation infrastructure throughout California. Senate Bill (SB) …

California will once again require residents to wear masks in indoor public settings everywhere in the state, amid uncertainty surrounding the rapid spread of the omicron coronavirus variant and rising case rates as the holidays approach. The mandate will go …

CENTRAL COAST — Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD) has started announcing wintertime Spare the Air alerts for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties. MBARD will send out notifications by 3 p.m. on days when conditions warrant a Spare …