| LOOKING BACK
At the heart of our mission, Voices of Monterey Bay provides a platform for a diversity of voices, while looking deeper into issues at the heart of the Central Coast. During the past year, the most popular stories among readers were a blend of hard-hitting investigations, breaking news and evocative features. The stories spanned from South Monterey County to Big Sur, from Salinas to the Monterey Peninsula, and each of them gave voice to a variety of people and issues.
The following are the dozen top-ranked stories published by Voices of Monterey Bay in 2021, along with quotes from voices that summarized the issues:
Salinas High School was rocked last year by racist social media activity among students that resulted in an apology to Black students by the school district. “As a community, we are surely appalled by this incident and our students must be our focus as we unpack the layers,” said Superintendent Dan Burns.
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A series of stories by veteran investigative reporter Royal Calkins — stories that Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal would have preferred hidden — dominated the headlines in Voices of Monterey County in 2021. Ultimately Bernal opted to not seek reelection this year. “These are definitely tough times for law enforcement,” Bernal said in his written announcement.
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Voices editor Kathryn McKenzie pondered the pros and cons of masking up during the pandemic back in June. “There is no good answer to all this yet,” she wrote, “and I suppose there won’t be until we can fully put the specter of COVID behind us.” This story appeared in June and it seems that nothing has changed since then.
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A plaintive social media post by a former student at Carmel High School about harassment and sexual abuse sparked a movement among young women at the school who said they would no longer tolerate physical and emotional assaults. “It’s not that I wanted sympathy, or revenge,” said the student, Itzel Rios-Ellis.”It’s just that some of the closest people in my life have gone through the same thing. And it was like, ‘I’m done.’”
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Real estate analysts in the region called it the “COVID Real Estate Surge,” as sales and home prices continued to soar even during the pandemic. But for long-timer renters and those hoping to purchase a house on the Central Coast, it felt like a purge. Monterey County has “created a permanent renter class, as investors with no stake in our communities are already circling like the vultures they are,” said Esther Malkin, a renters’ activist.
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Doctors from Mexico appeared in the Salinas Valley this year to help get farmworkers vaccinated against COVID-19. Their arrival was a special arrangement engineered by Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas. “It is a challenge because it is a change of country, culture and system,” said Dr. Edgar Robles, from Morelos. “But in the end we are doctors and the human being is the same no matter the country.”
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Road closures that strand residents of Big Sur have always been a way of life, and last year’s closure at Rat Creek gave “Big Sur Kate” Novoa a chance to reflect with neighbors. “During closures, everything slows down even more, particularly in winter,” she wrote. “We are treat to a silence we have missed and wildlife that becomes visible in its return.”
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There was talk earlier this year of housing migrant children captured at the border at Camp Roberts, the California National Guard training facility along the southern border of Monterey County. A contingent of activists challenged the proposal. “We can’t turn a (blind) eye because it is not affecting us,” said Adriana Melgoza, co-founder of Monterey Rapid Response Network. “We must protect the children so that their voices are heard, and (we) can’t allow abuse.” In the end, the proposal was scrapped.
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‘From the Classroom to the Halls of Government” was one of several stories in a special series exclusive to Voices of Monterey Bay and prepared by high school and college students. They researched and described efforts on campuses to promote civic engagement during the pandemic. “Having that sense that you’re able to do something about the stuff that affects you or the stuff you go through day to day,” said Joshua Gonzalez, a Hartnell College student who joined a student activist organization called La Cosecha in 2017. “It gets you thinking more than you normally would.”
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During controversy over ethnic studies in Salinas schools, VOMB founder Claudia Meléndez Salinas recounted the fall of Tenochtitlan in a personal essay published in August. “One way or another, we continue to live with the consequences,” she wrote. “Colonization still echoes in the disproportionate impact COVID-19 had on Latinos and Black/Afro Americans.”
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The fairytale ending she was aching to add to her autobiographical romance novel became a chapter of profound sorrow for Salinas author Martha Lopez-Rahali. Her romantic dream met with unimaginable real-life tragedy on Feb. 22, 2019. The love of her life was murdered in their front yard. As she was writing the novel, “he came to me in my dreams,” she told reporter Dennis Taylor. “He would come all the time, sit beside me on the bed with a big smile on his face, and watch me sleep.”
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After Alfred Diaz-Infante died in a vehicle accident in August, Voices of Monterey Bay discovered his words in reports and interviews, and published the best of his thoughts. Diaz-Infante was a longtime housing advocate with CHISPA, which builds communities within the housing projects it builds. He often liked to talk about what owning a home meant to his immigrant parents. “I think that’s the American dream of homeownership,” he said, “because I still recall the moment that we moved into the house and my parents were so proud of this brand new house.”
| Feature photo by Joe Livernois
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