This Week on the Central Coast
Delayed Crab Season, Record Voter Turnout, and More Business Reopenings
California’s Dungeness crab season has been delayed until December 1.
The decision was made to protect a large number of humpback whales that have stayed in the bays of central California. Fifty were sighted in a week in San Francisco and another twenty-five were sighted in Monterey. Scientists believe the whales are confused about the season with ocean temperatures remaining high. “The theory is the whales don’t seem to know it’s fall yet. With the first storm, it might clue them in that it’s time to boogie south,” says Mike Conroy, executive director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.
Monterey County voters surpass the 2016 turnout.
More than half of the votes (56%) turned in this year were via mail ballots, an increase from last year’s mail-in ballots (49%). The article goes on to interview many voters, some voting for the first time. Most cited ethical issues, such as race and LGBTQ+ rights, as their primary reason for voting.
Monterey County applies for Red Tier.
The request is based on a lower test positivity rate. Monterey county’s most recent positivity rating was about 5.1, which is well within Red Tier. If the county were to be approved, most businesses would be able to open for indoor activities at 25% occupancy, including restaurants and the aquarium. Gyms would be able to open at 10% occupancy. The county could be approved as early as Monday, November 9, and would only need to maintain its low positivity rating for one more week before officially moving to Red Tier.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk becomes the first amusement park allowed to open since the start of the pandemic.
A ride area was allowed to open on Saturday, November 7, due to the county getting approved for Orange Tier. The rides will only be available to Santa Cruz County residents and require reservations as well as temperature and health checks. The article also interviews a couple of visitors from out of state. The arcade remains closed, but food and retail shops are open. For more information, visit the Santa Cruz Boardwalk’s website.
For more information on Monterey County’s COVID-19 numbers, check out this Reddit user’s graphs on Imgur. They update every week and cover a variety of statistics, including case counts by city. Here is the original Reddit post, which gives greater detail of their sources, including the state of California and CHOMP.