Sara Rubin
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Reporting from the salad bowl of America for @mcweekly. Follow me on Bluesky at sarahayleyrubin.bsky.social. On Signal: SARARUBIN.668
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Articles by Sara Rubin
The resistance against Trump’s worst instincts goes to the courtroom.
Early in the first Trump administration, there was a lot of talk in Democratic-leaning Monterey County about “the resistance.” There were protests and marches and political strategy sessions. It’s dry and far less energetic than a protest, but during Trump 2.0, the resistance is taking place in the courtroom. Early in 2025, California lawmakers set aside a $25 million legal fund to fight back against Trumpism.
La lucha contra los peores impulsos de Trump se traslada a los tribunales.
A principios de la primera administración de Trump, en el condado de Monterey, de tendencia demócrata, se hablaba mucho de “la resistencia”. Hubo protestas, marchas y sesiones de estrategia política. Es algo seco y con mucho menos entusiasmo que una protesta, pero durante la era Trump 2.0, la resistencia se está librando en los tribunales. A principios de 2025, los legisladores de California destinaron un fondo legal de $25 millones para luchar contra el trumpismo.
The Ag Commissioner's Office has a message for Car Week visitors: Keep pests away.
Car Week means thousands of visitors and vehicles arriving in Monterey County, which poses well-known challenges to public safety and traffic. But officials in the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner's Office want people to be alert for another potential danger lurking: the introduction of invasive pests.
The resistance against Trump’s worst instincts goes to the courtroom.
Early in the first Trump administration, there was a lot of talk in Democratic-leaning Monterey County about “the resistance.” There were protests and marches and political strategy sessions. It’s dry and far less energetic than a protest, but during Trump 2.0, the resistance is taking place in the courtroom. Early in 2025, California lawmakers set aside a $25 million legal fund to fight back against Trumpism.
Vince Finaldi channels a lifelong passion for cars into his new job as incoming Concours chair.
When Vince Finaldi first came to see a 12,000-square-foot former cannabis extraction facility in Del Rey Oaks, he says the building was desolate. “It looked like it was out of the movie Saw,” he says. But he had a vision for a boutique European auto shop, and Finaldi Inc. started in 2020, peaking at nine employees (there are currently five on staff). Today they occupy a pristine space where collector cars are on the floor – some getting ready for auction at Car Week, others actively being worked on.
Salinas City Council shows it is willing to take a serious stand against smoking.
How old were you when you first tried a cigarette? I’m willing to bet for many of you, it was before the legal age limit. (In California, that’s age 21.) Sara Rubin here with the reality check that despite age limits and restrictions, young people still consume tobacco products. This is something that local prosecutors do monitor and have cracked down on, but it’s still a problem.
El Concejo Municipal de Salinas demuestra que está dispuesto a tomar una postura firme contra el tabaquismo.
¿Qué edad tenías cuando probaste un cigarro por primera vez? Apuesto a que para muchos de ustedes fue antes de la edad legal. (En California, es a los 21 años). Les saluda Sara Rubín con un choque de realidad: a pesar de los límites de edad y las restricciones, los jóvenes siguen consumiendo productos de tabaco. Esto es algo que los fiscales locales vigilan y han estado sancionando, pero sigue siendo un problema.
Salinas City Council shows it is willing to take a serious stand against smoking.
How old were you when you first tried a cigarette? I’m willing to bet for many of you, it was before the legal age limit. (In California, that’s age 21.) Sara Rubin here with the reality check that despite age limits and restrictions, young people still consume tobacco products. This is something that local prosecutors do monitor and have cracked down on, but it’s still a problem.
Longtime Esselen Tribe leader Tom Little Bear Nason dies after a transformational period for the tribe.
Tom Little Bear Nason of Carmel Valley dedicated his life to preserving the cultural heritage of the Indigenous Esselen people of what eventually became Monterey County. He stayed dedicated through extended periods of little to no progress, speaking to anyone who would listen, from protests on the banks of the Carmel River to state water regulators to the halls of Washington, D.C., as he sought to raise awareness of the tribe.
Sand City’s dream of a bike path hits problems with parking and pricing.
The Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail is a true gem of a bicycle path, 18 miles of pavement with only moderate hills, epic scenery and useful commuter connectivity between Castroville and Pacific Grove. I ride on it regularly for utility, and also for recreation. There’s a funky gap in the middle, which regular users of the trail know.
Reba Wilson turned a love of baking into a business.
As a child, Reba Wilson loved baking. She would make chocolate chip cookies with her grandmother, a Francophile with a fondness for Julia Child, something that might have helped Wilson set the stage for her own affection for food TV. “When the Food Network became a thing, I was all in,” Wilson says.
Fruits and vegetables in every shape, and some deal-making, come to a massive expo in Monterey.
Sara Rubin here after seeing potatoes in every color, tomatoes in every shape, and lettuce in dozens of varieties. The expo at the International Fresh Produce Association’s annual foodservice conference took over the Monterey Conference Center Friday morning with towers of produce (and plenty of swag) grown all over the world, including lots from right here in the Salinas Valley.
Bad information leads to conspiracy theories around cyclospora outbreak.
Like other parasites, the protozoa Cyclospora cayetanensis has a mission to find a host, replicate then find new hosts. Cyclospora’s host is the human. Infection results in the nasty disease that can lead to days on the toilet and generally feeling like dirt. But one thing we have learned in the past week, while thousands of Americans are sick, is that we know remarkably little about cyclospora. It is seasonal, with summer spikes. Cooking kills it, making raw fruits and vegetables prime suspects.
Información errónea abre paso a teorías de conspiración sobre brote de ciclospora.
Como otros parásitos, el protozoo Cyclospora cayetanensis tiene la misión de encontrar un huésped, replicarse y luego hallar nuevos huéspedes. El huésped de la ciclospora es el ser humano. La infección provoca una enfermedad bastante pesada que puede causar días pegado al baño y, en general, sentirse muy mal. Pero una cosa que hemos aprendido en la última semana, mientras miles de personas en EE. UU. están enfermas, es que sabemos sorprendentemente poco sobre la ciclospora.
The Bach Festival goes beyond beautiful music and delves into challenging material.
Why do you listen to music? Sara Rubin here, noting there are a lot of ways I can answer that question. There’s music we choose to energize a workout and maybe help us keep pace; there’s lulling music that can help us fall asleep; there’s spiritual music that may be something an entire congregation can sing together. Aesthetic beauty is just one reason among many, but of course listening to music just because we find it beautiful is an excellent reason.
Bad information leads to conspiracy theories around cyclospora outbreak.
Like other parasites, the protozoa Cyclospora cayetanensis has a mission to find a host, replicate then find new hosts. Cyclospora’s host is the human. Infection results in the nasty disease that can lead to days on the toilet and generally feeling like dirt. But one thing we have learned in the past week, while thousands of Americans are sick, is that we know remarkably little about cyclospora. It is seasonal, with summer spikes. Cooking kills it, making raw fruits and vegetables prime suspects.
Two local government success stories, one slow and one fast.
A fact that should be shocking in the 21st century in the United States of America: It is not safe to drink the tap water in the South Monterey County community of San Lucas, and it hasn’t been since at least 2011. That’s when public health officials first issued a “Do Not Drink” order due to an unsafe level of nitrates in the water. “We are requiring the use of bottled water or water from an approved source for drinking or cooking,” a July 7, 2011 notice from the Health Department read.
Dos historias de éxito del gobierno local: una lenta y una rápida.
Un hecho que debería ser impactante en el siglo XXI en los Estados Unidos de América: no es seguro beber el agua del grifo en la comunidad de San Lucas, en el sur del condado de Monterey, y no lo ha sido desde al menos 2011. Fue entonces cuando los funcionarios de salud pública emitieron por primera vez una orden de “No Beber” debido a un nivel no seguro de nitratos en el agua.
Fallece a los 102 años Andy D'Arrigo, líder agrícola e imagen icónica de los productos agrícolas 'Andy Boy'.
Es probable que conozca el rostro de Andy D'Arrigo, al menos tal como quedó plasmado en forma de caricatura durante su infancia: una fotografía suya a los 2 años y medio sirvió de inspiración para la icónica marca "Andy Boy" de verduras cultivadas y empacadas por su familia. D'Arrigo no solo fue una imagen publicitaria, sino también un líder por muchos años en la industria de productos agrícolas del Valle de Salinas, asumiendo el liderazgo como vicepresidente de D'Arrigo Bros.
Longtime ag leader Andy D'Arrigo, the iconic face of 'Andy Boy' produce, dies at 102. Original
You probably know Andy D'Arrigo's face, at least as it was captured in cartoon form in his childhood: A photograph of him at age 2-and-a-half served as the inspiration for the iconic "Andy Boy" brand of vegetables grown and packaged by his family. D'Arrigo was not only a marketing image, but a long-time leader in the Salinas Valley produce industry, assuming leadership as vice president of D'Arrigo Bros. at age 27 after his father, Stefano D'Arrigo, died unexpectedly in 1951.
Two local government success stories, one slow and one fast.
A fact that should be shocking in the 21st century in the United States of America: It is not safe to drink the tap water in the South Monterey County community of San Lucas, and it hasn’t been since at least 2011. “We are requiring the use of bottled water or water from an approved source for drinking or cooking,” a July 7, 2011 notice from the Health Department read.
For groundwater sustainability in the Salinas Valley, it’s time to transition from talk to action.
Sara Rubin here, thinking back to a pep talk that I heard Piret Harmon deliver on Dec. 18 of last year. She was addressing the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency’s advisory committee, a group that convened for the first time on that date, with their charge: “We are a collaborator, a convenor,” she said. “You are thinking about what’s best for this agency and for the whole valley.” In the world of Salinas Valley water, that is no small task.
Para la sostenibilidad del agua subterránea en el Valle de Salinas, es hora de pasar de las palabras a la acción.
Aquí Sara Rubín, recordando una charla de motivación que escuché dar a Piret Harmon el 18 de diciembre del año pasado. Se estaba dirigiendo al comité asesor de la Agencia de Sostenibilidad del Agua Subterránea de la Cuenca del Valle de Salinas (SVBGSA), un grupo que se reunió por primera vez en esa fecha, con su encomienda: “Somos un colaborador, un convocante”, dijo. “Ustedes están pensando en lo que es mejor para esta agencia y para todo el valle”.
Salinas City Elementary clashes with County Board of Ed on school transfers.
There is something quaint about the idea of the neighborhood school, a place that kids can walk to, and that puts them in a classroom among their neighbors, with decisions about which school a child attends based on their address. Such rules (and exceptions to those rules) evolve along with the politics, budgets and attitudes around public education. And they are being tested in a back-and-forth unfolding between Salinas City Elementary School District and the Monterey County Office of Education.
Hay algo entrañable en la idea de la escuela del vecindario, un lugar al que los niños pueden ir caminando y que los pone en un salón de clases junto a sus vecinos, con decisiones sobre a qué escuela asiste un niño basadas en su domicilio. Dichas reglas (y las excepciones a esas reglas) cambian junto con la política, los presupuestos y las actitudes en torno a la educación pública.
Out on the Town
Music lover Tonia Eaton has adapted to life in a wheelchair, continuing to show up for live shows. Growing up in small-town Alaska, Tonia Eaton played alto saxophone and sang in a choir. As a child, she thought she might become a musician. Her interests developed in a different direction and she found her way into a career in tech, but she never lost her affection for live performance. “I really respect anyone who’s on the stage, even if I don’t like the music,” Eaton says.
Salinas City Elementary clashes with County Board of Ed on school transfers.
There is something quaint about the idea of the neighborhood school, a place that kids can walk to, and that puts them in a classroom among their neighbors, with decisions about which school a child attends based on their address. Such rules (and exceptions to those rules) evolve along with the politics, budgets and attitudes around public education. And they are being tested in a back-and-forth unfolding between Salinas City Elementary School District and the Monterey County Office of Education.
With bills spanning health, weather and environment, Central Coast Caucus seeks to elevate a region.
Sara Rubin here, thinking about geography and how we define a region. Layers of lines reflect places, but those lines don’t always capture real life. There are cities and counties, but so much of lived experience is more porous; for example, the Pajaro Valley spans both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, with community life taking place in both. Monterey County was once represented wholly in one congressional district, then a 2020 redistricting update sliced it roughly down the middle.
Local soccer fans make the most of the North American World Cup matches (see today's game USA vs. Belgium at the Salinas Regional Complex)
The knockout game in the Round of 32 made World Cup history on Sunday, June 28, as Canada and South Africa squared off, representing the first of 16 matches in the expanded 48-game field. In the crowd at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was a Seaside family rooting for neither team in particular, wearing Monterey Bay F.C. and Monterey Bay Sirens jerseys, the day after the local women’s team won the championship.
Los aficionados locales al fútbol aprovechan al máximo los partidos del Mundial de Norteamérica (vea esta tarde Estados Unidos contra Bélgica en el Salinas Regional Complex).
El partido de eliminación directa en los dieciseisavos de final hizo historia en la Copa Mundial el domingo 28 de junio, cuando Canadá y Sudáfrica se enfrentaron, representando el primero de 16 partidos en la fase ampliada de 48 selecciones. (Nota del editor: esta tarde se enfrentarán Estados Unidos contra Bélgica, en un partido que podrá ver en el Salinas Regional Complex en un tailgate party a las cinco de la tarde).
Happy Fourth of July. There will be fireworks—and there will be citations.
There is only one fireworks show, and it’s sure to be a good one. The Salinas Rodeo Grounds are an epic venue for fireworks—seated in an arena looking down, you’re basically on top of them—and Compass Church knows how to .
Desde música patriótica hasta carnes asadas y juegos, hay mucho que hacer para celebrar la ocasión en todo el Condado de Monterey este Cuatro de Julio. Solo hay un espectáculo de fuegos artificiales, y seguro será muy bueno. Los terrenos del Rodeo de Salinas son un escenario épico para los cohetes —sentado en la arena mirando hacia abajo, básicamente estás encima de ellos— y la iglesia Compass sabe cómo armar una fiesta.
Local soccer fans make the most of the North American World Cup matches.
The knockout game in the Round of 32 made World Cup history on Sunday, June 28, as Canada and South Africa squared off, representing the first of 16 matches in the expanded 48-game field. In the crowd at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was a Seaside family rooting for neither team in particular, wearing Monterey Bay F.C. and Monterey Bay Sirens jerseys, the day after the local women’s team won the championship.
At least we can agree to demilitarize local July Fourth festivities.
Like many Monterey County residents, especially in that era, Rick Johnson first arrived to serve in the Army. In his case, it was to study French at the Defense Language Institute in 1968. He returned and built an adult life here, and even before he became the face of the Old Monterey Business Association for some 20 years, the organization that eventually took over managing Monterey’s annual Fourth of July parade, Johnson got involved in community events.
Governments and volunteers answer to different masters with different rules, and that can get messy.
Sara Rubin here with a shoutout to all the volunteers doing incredible work in our communities all over Monterey County. Some of the most effective volunteer projects happen in partnership with government agencies that are chronically caught up in the slow-moving wheels of bureaucracy and can struggle to simply get stuff done that people-powered nonprofits can just do.
Marina’s mixed-use dream is coming to fruition, with some haters.
If you build it, they will come, the saying goes, and that is proving true in Marina’s new neighborhoods on the former Fort Ord. Years in the making, The Dunes is a mixed-use neighborhood developed by Shea Homes with commercial and residential spaces. Even when I toured one of the 84 residential units known as “Rooftops” in 2024, I struggled to see what the developer saw – in my eyes, it was still a giant asphalt lot with structures on it.
As a community grows around it, The General puts a new focus on its cocktail program.
Nearly a decade after it opened on Veterans Day in 2018, there’s something that still feels like a secret upon entering The General. One needs to pass through the fast-casual Dametra up front before walking into a more intimate setting, where the bar itself tells a story – it is the restored bar top from the historic Stilwell Hall at Fort Ord, some 90ish years old.
This awards season provides good reminders to celebrate a rockstar team.
Sara Rubin here, with a shout-out to everyone who makes the Monterey County Weekly, Monterey County Now and Salinas Valley Now go. You hear from us in the newsroom regularly in this newsletter intro column, but the whole endeavor relies on a lot more than that. Aaron Thomas oversees the distribution team responsible for getting physical newspapers delivered all over the county every week.
Another public hearing, another chance for opponents to try to sink Cal Am’s desal project.
Maybe you’ve heard this one before: California American Water, the utility serving some 100,000 customers on the Monterey Peninsula, is trying to build a desalination plant in Marina to transform brackish water into drinking water. In the decades that this concept has been taking shape, a variety of groups have organized to oppose it, arguing it’s too costly and serves Cal Am investors more than customers turning on the tap.
El Condado y la Life Foundation avanzan hacia un acuerdo con la esperanza de cerrar la compra del edificio de Servicios Sociales.
En los 10 meses transcurridos desde que un juez de la Corte Superior del Condado de Monterey nombró a un administrador judicial (receptor) para manejar las finanzas de la organización sin fines de lucro Life Foundation —dueña de un edificio en el sur de Salinas que está arrendado al Condado de Monterey—, el proceso para seguir un desordenado rastro de documentos financieros ha sido complejo, similar al juego de "pegarle al topo" (whack-a-mole), término que utilizó el juez Ian Rivamonte.
State lawmakers pass a budget designed to minimize the depth of federal cuts.
Sara Rubin here, taking a look at the numbers. Yesterday, the California State Senate and State Assembly both passed Assembly Bill 109, the Budget Act of 2026, more simply referred to as the state budget. By 11pm, it was handed over to Gov. Gavin Newsom seeking his final blessing and signature. The $253 billion budget is massive by nature, with plenty of 10-figure line items.
State lawmakers pass a budget designed to minimize the depth of federal cuts.
Sara Rubin here, taking a look at the numbers. Yesterday, the California State Senate and State Assembly both passed Assembly Bill 109, the Budget Act of 2026, more simply referred to as the state budget. By 11pm, it was handed over to Gov. Gavin Newsom seeking his final blessing and signature. The $253 billion budget is massive by nature, with plenty of 10-figure line items.
State Parks Week invites us to immerse in destinations right in our own backyard.
Mexico began colonizing what is now California back in 1769, and in 1775, the capital of this emerging nation-state moved to Monterey – then stayed there even after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. It would remain the capital city for nearly another three decades before evolving into a fishing town and a tourist attraction, a far cry from a modern capital city today.
The County prepares to buy a building – and maybe end a legal controversy.
The angular structure on the corner of Romie Lane and South Main Street in Salinas that is intermittently known as the Quadrangle or the Life Foundation Building has always struck me as rather drab and unremarkable, all shades of brown on brown.
State Parks Week invites us to immerse in destinations right in our own backyard.
Mexico began colonizing what is now California back in 1769, and in 1775, the capital of this emerging nation-state moved to Monterey – then stayed there even after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. It would remain the capital city for nearly another three decades before evolving into a fishing town and a tourist attraction, a far cry from a modern capital city today.
California State Parks Week invites us not just to visit, but to get to know our parks.
When is the last time you visited one of California’s 280 state parks? Sara Rubin here to say that for me, it was quite recent—these public lands (alongside federal and local agencies) are a big part of my life and I frequent state parks properties in Monterey County for hikes and jogs.
Stop and smell the sea stars—it’s for fun, and also helps advance science.
Sara Rubin here, thinking about the little things. By little I mean seriously little—animals the size of your fingernail might only become obvious when you zoom in your attention very closely. A lot of nature experiences invite us to focus on charismatic megafauna (whale watching, safaris) but tidepooling remains, in my opinion, an under-appreciated activity that forces us to turn to the small creatures.
A nonprofit serving children with pediatric illnesses and their families celebrates an expansion.
The majority of children served by Coastal Kids Home Care receive care in their homes—many have pediatric medical needs that are complex and need at-home nursing or case management. But hundreds also receive care onsite at the Rodgers Center for Children’s Health that opened in 2022, and that celebrates an expansion and remodel with an open house on Friday, June 5. The occasion also marks the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary from when it was started by a pediatric nurse in Salinas.
Una agencia no lucrativa que atiende a niños con enfermedades pediátricas y a sus familias celebra una expansión.
La mayoría de los niños atendidos por Coastal Kids Home Care reciben atención en sus hogares; muchos tienen necesidades médicas pediátricas complejas y requieren enfermería a domicilio o gestión de casos. Pero cientos también reciben atención en las instalaciones del Centro Rodgers para la Salud Infantil (Rodgers Center for Children’s Health) que abrió en 2022, y que celebra una expansión y remodelación con una casa abierta al público el viernes 5 de junio.
En una inusual contienda para auditor del condado, la funcionaria interna Enedina García lidera en los primeros resultados.
Burcu Mousa ya no estaba nerviosa cuando llegó el Día de las Elecciones, el 2 de junio. “Una sensación de calma me ha invadido”, dice. La contadora pública certificada y exmiembro del personal de la Oficina del Auditor-Controlador del Condado de Monterey había pasado los últimos meses recibiendo un curso intensivo de política local. “No necesariamente tenía un mentor hasta que me reuní con Jane Parker y ella me guió”, dice Mousa sobre la exsupervisora del condado.
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