Local News

BIG SUR — Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park will reopen to the public Friday, Oct. 16, after a two-month closure during the Timber Fire, which burned approximately 517 acres within the park, including numerous trails. The park became a base camp and incident command center...

SOLEDAD — Soledad Chamber of Commerce recognized five local nonprofit organizations and distributed donations during its Giving Back Banquet on Oct. 1, thanking the groups for their contributions to the community and volunteer work at the Chamber’s fireworks booth. The event opened with two cultural...

SOLEDAD — Two men were arrested after a physical altercation at a Soledad bar Saturday night, where officers later found a firearm, ammunition and suspected methamphetamine in a vehicle, according to the Soledad Police Department. Officers responded to the 200 block of West Street at...

GONZALES — Salinas Valley Health hosted a free flu clinic Saturday at the Taylor Farms Family Health and Wellness Center in Gonzales, with a total of 228 community members receiving vaccinations. Karina Rusk, director of public relations and communications for Salinas Valley Health, was delighted...

MONTEREY COUNTY — A proposed limit on kitchen and dining space emerged as a key unresolved issue Sept. 29 as Monterey County supervisors approved new rules for winery-related development, ending years of work to put an existing county land-use plan into practice. Supervisors voted 5-0...

Tire amnesty event offers free disposal SALINAS VALLEY — Salinas Valley residents can dispose of used car and small-truck tires for free through Nov. 8 at three Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority facilities. The event is open to residents only, with a limit of nine tires...

SOLEDAD — A jury convicted a state prison inmate serving a life sentence of stabbing his cellmate about 40 times in 2022 at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced Oct. 6. Ray Gutierrez Jr. was found guilty of...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County District Attorney’s Office is warning residents and businesses about several fraud schemes circulating in the county, including fake government invoices, scams involving supposedly compromised financial accounts and real estate title fraud. “Fraud affects everyone, whether through higher insurance rates, lost...

For Dr. Ruth Pedraza, Family Medicine Service Director at Mee Memorial, practicing medicine is about building relationships with patients, walking alongside their families and making a difference in people’s lives. That commitment is what brought her to South Monterey County. After three-and-a-half years serving the...

GONZALES — Gonzales resident and Boy Scout Davis Pisoni of Troop 73 recently partnered with the City of Gonzales to build and install 10 owl boxes at the city’s wastewater treatment facility. The project is part of Pisoni’s Eagle Scout work and was developed in...