This Week on the Central Coast…
Sorry for the delay! Here’s the good news of the week.
Monterey
Kafe Toribashi Soft-Opened on the Wharf
Two weeks ago, the new Kafe Toribashi opened at the end of Fisherman’s Wharf in place of the former Water + Leaves. If the name sounds familiar, you might be familiar with owner Kevin Choi’s flagship restaurant, Toribashi, the ramen house on Alvarado Street.
The new spinoff is a build-it-yourself ramen and coffee shop. You start by picking your pack of ramen noodles, then choosing from the various add-ins, like boiled egg, spam, or gyoza. Coffee and Marianne’s ice cream are two other options soon to be offered.
So what makes Choi’s instant ramen shop different from a trip to the store? He sources his ramen from vendors in Korea and Japan, where shops like this are popular. In general, ramen bowls start at $6.50 before any add-ins. Kafe Toribashi is open weekdays from 8am to 3:30pm and weekends from 8am to 5pm.
Carmel High School’s Football Team Honored with a Parade
Carmel High School’s football team won the California Division 5AA championship on Friday after beating the second place El Capitan High School 48-7. The win caps off an undefeated season, making them state champions.
To celebrate, the Carmel Residents Association announced they would hold a parade down Ocean Avenue on Thursday (12/19), at 3:30pm.
This is the first state football championship in the school’s history.
Salinas
Hartnell Awarded Funding for STEM Research
Last week, Hartnell College was awarded nearly $200k for STEM research. The Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Zoe Lofgren, announced the funding. “This federal funding will help advance scientific discovery and make STEM education more accessible to Hartnell’s diverse student population”.
Zoe Lofgren grew up in Santa Clara county and currently serves the Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties. She is known for her unfaltering defense of immigration rights
Santa Cruz
New Skate Park Planned for Pinto Lake
Last week, a new skate park was announced to be coming to Pinto Lake Park in Watsonville. The planned 8,000 square foot park is all thanks to the efforts of both organizations, County Park Friends and the Richard Novak Foundation. County Supervisor Zach Friend said the idea came about after he had talked with Richard Novak, the local skateboarding legend who founded Santa Cruz Skateboards. “This is an area that really does not have the resources of parks, the resources of outdoor access and the resources of youth that many other areas in the community do, and Rich said, ‘Let’s build it.'”
Friend talked about how Ramsay Park is a little more advanced and that there are some beginner friendly courses around, but this will be the perfect mix of it all. It can also serve as an introduction to all the other features of Pinto Lake Park.
Stretch of California Coast Preserved for Monarchs
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to designate a stretch of Santa Cruz Coastline as a critical habitat for monarch butterflies. The Service plans to protect over 4,000 acres of land across California, and 289 of those acres will be at Natural Bridges State Beach, Lighthouse Field State Beach, Ocean View Park just east of Ocean Street and Moran Lake on the Eastside.”
These are all overwintering sites where the butterflies can rest through the winter until they’re ready to migrate and breed in the spring. This is all part of the plan to classify monarchs as a threatened species. Populations have fallen by more than 95% since the ‘80s and the Fish and Wildlife Service predicts populations on the west coast to go extinct by 2080 due to loss of habitat, insecticides, and climate change.
The agency noted that the protections would not apply to privately owned land and would still allow recreation, though with more guidance on how to not disturb the butterflies.
Public input opens on Thursday and continues through March 12.