This Week on the Central Coast...
Fort Ord seeking approval to improve its trails, Soquel teachers got a pay raise, and a new art show at the Monterey Museum of Art
Fort Ord awarded grant to make improvements to trails
The Monterey Off-Road Cycling Association announced they had received a grant to implement a two-year improvement plan. The Cycling Association maintains the trails in Fort Ord, including the ones used for the Sea Otter Classic.
The first phase of improvements is focused on “construction of a bridge across lower Couch Canyon to reduce erosion from the trail where it crosses an ineffective culvert”. A culvert is a small tunnel meant to redirect water during wet seasons. However, the existing culvert is frequently blocked by debris. The proposed bridge would replace the culvert and improve the trail’s functionality overall.
If all goes well in the first phase, the Cycling Association plans to move forward with phase two which would provide a re-route of Trail 60 so that it serves as an alternative to the over-used Trail 50 North.
Soquel Union Elementary School teachers got a fifteen percent pay raise
A pay-raise for Soquel teachers is set to be approved after nearly a year of negotiations. The new budget will benefit 110 certified employees in the Soquel Union Elementary School District, as well as attract new teachers to the area. "A hundred percent it's going to help recruit with increase salary. We're going to be more competitive in our county and it's going to keep our educators here which again, helps to create that stability,” said Ann Wilson, a fourth grade teacher.
Santa Cruz County is consistently rated as one of the most expensive areas to live in the U.S. and any boost in pay will help ease the struggles of our teachers.
“Reprise” at Monterey Museum of Art
A new show, called “Reprise”, opened at the Monterey Museum of Art. The artist, Nancy Sevier, creates her pieces from musical instruments, stripping them down to their different parts and using them as her medium. “Not many people necessarily know how music instruments look inside,” she says about the same piece. “You find whatever you want to see.”
She explains that some people may not like that she’s taken apart instruments, but most of them were abandoned or damaged. Her art has given new life to them in the form of sculptures constructed from pianos, guitar strings, and organ wires.
The show runs until October 2 at the Monterey Museum of Art.
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