This Week on the Central Coast…
Pebble Beach steps up its sustainability efforts, Monterey Public Library sponsors a drag storytime, the World’s Toughest Row launched from Monterey, and more details of the Rail Trail in Santa Cruz.
Monterey
Pebble Beach Applies for a Clean Water Act Permit
Pebble Beach has partnered with three local nonprofits in its pursuit of enhancing the water quality in the Carmel Bay. California Coastkeeper Alliance, The Otter Project, and Monterey Waterkeeper all coordinated with Pebble Beach to help the company try to acquire a Clean Water Act Permit. This permit would be the first of its kind. “This effort includes increasing water quality monitoring and developing updated best management practices related to dry-weather and stormwater discharges”.
The Carmel Bay is one of thirty four Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) in California. This designation is issued by the State Water Resources Control Board in order to help protect species and communities that are unique to the area. “We are proud to collaborate with these organizations to further our longstanding environmental commitments through this landmark initiative,” said the President and CEO of Pebble Beach.
Monterey Public Library Sponsoring Drag Storytime
The Monterey Public Library is partnering with Oscar’s Playground to host a Drag Queen Storytime at the Cannery Row business. The event is part of the library’s Pride Month programming and has been an idea-in-the-making for several years. “We’ve been talking about this since I started,” said Brian Edwards, Monterey Public Library Director. “We spent months working with community partners … to make sure it would be meaningful, welcoming and right for Monterey.” Edwards emphasized the importance of ensuring that the library is inclusive of everyone, even expressing his understanding that not everyone would be excited about the event. “Public libraries don’t exist to appease everyone. They exist to serve everyone … if we’re not willing to represent the full community, then who are we really serving?“
The event will include all the typical storytime features, such as singing, dancing, and stories for kids, but with the added flair of local drag performer, Saint Sallos.
The event is already full and at the time of writing has 34 people on the waitlist. You can add your name to the list on the library’s event page or check out all the other events coming up.
The World’s Toughest Row Has Begun
A challenging endurance race started last week as five teams of rowers set out on a journey across the Pacific. The race began in Monterey and will end in Hanalei, Kaua’i, spanning 2,800 miles. The route takes about sixty-two days on average, though the fastest time is thirty-four-and-a-half days.
The race is organized by Atlantic Campaigns which takes the utmost care to “ensure only our footprints are left in our start and finish ports.” At the start of the race, each team’s equipment is checked for safety. At the end of the race, equipment is checked again to ensure no items have been thrown overboard or lost during the event. Any team that is found to breach this rule is immediately disqualified.
Atlantic Campaigns participates in beach cleanups, charity donations, and sustainability efforts through partnerships in order to give back to the areas they race to and from.
Before the “World’s Toughest Row” started, only eighty-two people in thirty-three boats had successfully crossed to the Hawaiian islands from the mainland United States. Of those thirty-three crews, eighteen were all male, eleven were all female, and four were mixed genders. This year, only one woman is competing as part of the crew called “Oar the Rainbow”. You can read more about the teams on the race website as well as donate to individual crews.
The starts and finishes of the race can be viewed live on YouTube and tracked on the site. These are both accessible on the race website here.
Santa Cruz
Transportation Commission Announces Rail Trail Project Details
The long-awaited Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project (ZEPRT) will finally have financial details, including pricing and cost estimates, announced to the public in a meeting on Monday (June 9 - Today!). The train will provide a 22-mile route from the city of Santa Cruz to Pajaro, allowing riders to “take advantage of the publicly owned rail right-of-way to provide passenger rail service to connect the most populated areas of Santa Cruz County to each other” and “be able to bypass Highway 1 and local arterials that are highly congested”.
Additionally, the project will add to the existing Coastal Rail Trail, extending the dedicated bicycle and pedestrian route. The entire project is expected to be completed soon, sometime this summer.
The Regional Transportation Commission is hosting the informational meeting to provide details about the projected ridership of the ZEPRT, cost estimates, and passenger prices. Anyone interested can attend the meeting in-person or digitally and the session will be recorded and posted on the project website.
The meeting will be from 3:30-5pm today (June 9).
If attending in-person, the meeting will be held at 1101 Pacific Ave., Ste. 250 in Santa Cruz in the Oak Conference Room.
If you wish to attend via Zoom, you can follow this link and use the following login information:
Webinar ID: 991 6191 3341
Passcode: 874260
Thanks for reading!
June 10 - Monterey Jazz All Star Ensemble Dinner Series, Monterey
June 11 - Twilight Concert, Santa Cruz
June 12, Yacht Rock Revue, Monterey
June 13-15, Monterey Bay Jade Festival, Monterey
June 14, No Kings March, Santa Cruz
June 14, 34th Annual Juneteenth Celebration, Santa Cruz
June 14, 18th Annual Capitola Classic Car Show, Santa Cruz
June 15, Liberation Paddle Out, Santa Cruz
Helpful links…