Central Coast Chat: Recent Episodes
The Californian
Here at The Californian, we've covered a lot of Monterey County issues and topics through the Central Coast Chat podcast, from non-profits to Santa Claus to rodeos. The host of the podcast, Angelica Cabral, is leaving The Californian to pursue another position with a different news organization. So, today is the last episode of Central Coast Chat. Another reporter, Jocelyn Ortega, joins Angelica to discuss the past year.
First term Salinas City Councilmembers Anthony Rocha and Orlando Osornio join us to discuss their first year in office. They appeared on the podcast in November 2020 right after they were elected. On this episode we follow up on what they wanted to accomplish and discuss what's coming up in the new year.
For many, the holidays are a season of giving. That's true for this week's interviewee, who is helping organize a toy drive in Salinas.
There will be no episode next week due to the holiday season but we will have plenty of holiday related stories for you to read on our website.
Santa Claus appears on the podcast this week! Or, more accurately, a man who works as a Santa Claus all over this area and has been doing so for the past 16 years. Listen on to see what he had to say about speaking with people during the holiday season.
For this week's podcast we spoke with local artist Laurie Philip Michaels who promotes social causes with her art. If you're interested in purchasing her art, you can check out her instagram @lauriephilipmichaels.
For many, the pandemic is far from over and the recovery has been difficult. Melissa Kendrick highlights that in this week's episode as she discusses her work as the Executive Director of the Food Bank for Monterey County.
Veterans Day is this coming Thursday and in honor of that day and to recognize local veterans, we interviewed a woman on this week's episode who served for five years in the Army.
Ready for Halloween and more in person events? The Salinas Recreation & Park Division has you covered. Listen to our episode for information about their Halloween event next weekend and more.
We spoke with Julie Ann Lozano about the upcoming California International Airshow Salinas, an event that's been happening in this area since 1981. She tells us about planning the event and what we can expect this year.
It's estimated that out of the 1.5 million+ people who are unemployed in California, around 500,000 lack foundational digital skills. The situation isn't helped by the fact that many people living in poverty don't have access to computers.
Local non-profit Loaves, Fishes & Computers is working to close that gap by providing computers and technology classes to seniors, students, people experiencing disabilities and more. On this week's episode, we spoke with the Executive Director, Gabriela López Chávez about the work they do.
After not being able to host their event last year, the California Rodeo Salinas is back this year. The event, which typically brings in around 50,000 people over the four day period, includes many events and fundraises for local charities. For this week's episode we spoke with the Marketing Manger Mandy Linquist.
Our final episode features an interview with local farmworker Francisco Naranjo. It's in Spanish and the highlights are translated on our website.
Tuesday was another Election Day in California as Governor Gavin Newsom was up for a recall election. The recall was voted down by a large margin, securing Newsom's governorship for at least the next year, until he's up for re-election. On this week's episode, we spoke with Gina Martinez, the Registrar of Voters in Monterey County, about how the election turned out on a local level.
We've spoken with someone who wanted to show their appreciation for farmworkers and someone who works for the farmworkers' union. Now we get the point of view of someone from an agriculture company- Marisa Gutierrez, the Head of HR for the Foodservice division at Taylor Farms.
Amor Salinas, a new initiative to clean up trash and beautify Salinas, launched this week. To get more information on how the program got started and where it's headed, we spoke with two members of the team for this week's episode of Central Coast Chat. If you want to get involved with the program, here are some ways to do so:
Many people worked to show their appreciation for essential workers during the pandemic. But, some felt that farmworkers, also essential, were left out of this thanking process. So they decided to do something about it. Listen on to this week's episode of An Account of Agriculture to hear how Ruby Vasquez and others started a caravan to spread both appreciation and information.
We're introducing a new limited series podcast about farmworkers, agriculture, the pandemic and how these three things intersect. On our first episode, we interviewed Lauro Barajas of the United Farm Workers union. He takes us through strikes from the past and how he'd rather have a farmworker than a doctor, even during a pandemic. Listen to the end to hear why.
Recently, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors issued a vaccine mandate for all county employees. Employees must either get vaccinated or get weekly tests starting; the deadline for compliance with this mandate is September 30th. To discuss this mandate and other efforts the county is taking to combat the pandemic, we brought on Supervisor Wendy Root Askew to the podcast this week.
Monterey Car Week is a staple of summers in this area and many are happy to have had it come back this year. We spoke with Drew Alcazar, the auction president, this episode about everything from what the scene was like this past weekend and how to get started buying vintage cars.
Ahead of Governor Gavin Newsom's recall election next month, we spoke with Mindy Romero, the founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC, for information about what the polls indicate and what to expect on the ballot.
Many of us have missed live music, something that has been nearly impossible to experience in the same way this past year and a half. To get the breakdown on both logistics and the musical direction of this year's Monterey Jazz Festival, we spoke with the Artistic Director for this week's podcast episode.
Feeling nervous or unsure about what's happening with the Delta variant of COVID-19? We spoke with a doctor at Natividad to get the answers to some questions that you may have.
The Gilroy Garlic Festival is a mainstay in the area that has faced tragedy in recent years. There's big hopes for a good comeback this year. To get the layout of how this year's event will look, we interviewed the President of the festival.
Wondering what it's like to attend school during a pandemic? To find out listen to our interview this week with two graduating students.
Welcome back to another episode of Central Coast Chat! In honor of the economy officially "opening back up," we spoke with Lindsey Knight from the Salinas Chamber of Commerce to discuss what both businesses and consumers should know.
Welcome back to Central Coast Chat! We took a couple of weeks off, but we're back with an interview with the Fire Chief for the Monterey County Regional Fire District. He tells us how him and his team are preparing for wildfire season and what we can all do too.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is back in business and open to the public! If you want more information about how excited the staff is and what's been going on in the past year, listen to this week's episode featuring David Rosenberg, the Vice President of Guest Experience.
Join us for a special Mother's Day episode in which we interview a local mother daughter duo about their relationship and their plans to celebrate the day.
Dr. Marc Tunzi, in the Family Medicine Department at Natividad joins us to discuss mental health in the time of the pandemic and some steps that may help some of us cope as we begin to see restrictions coming to an end. California is expected to fully re-open its economy by June 15.
Asya Guillory, a parent to a Salinas student, discusses the upcoming return to school and what her hopes are for this year.
Bryan Flores, an Operations Manager with Monterey County Parks, came on this episode to discuss the re-opening of Toro Park later this month. The park initially closed after sustaining damage last August during fire season, but it's on track to be available to visit soon.
This week on Central Coast Chat, we discuss a somber topic, anti-Asian violence. We brought on Marina City Councilwoman Kathy Biala to talk about her community's reaction to the violence and what she hopes to do as a leader.
The country is still reeling after the most recent mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta. To discuss these tragedies, we brought on Rudy Espinoza, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action to discuss gun control activism and how people can get involved. Moms Demand Action is a "grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence."
Everyone on the Central Coast knows of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but did you know that one of their senior aquarists has co-written a children's book about a jellyfish who goes on a big adventure? Listen to this week's episode of Central Coast Chat for our interview with the author.
With a decrease in case rates in Monterey County, some K-6 schools are beginning to re-open. For this episode, we spoke with the principal of Toro Park School in Salinas and the Superintendent of Washington Union School District about the re-opening of their school.
Our guest this episode is Amy Wu, a former reporter for The Californian. While with us she began covering stories about women in the field of agricultural technology, known as ag tech.
She's since started working as for a farm and has transitioned her initial work into a book called "From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food Is Grown," coming out April 20, 2021.
This week, we interviewed Ruthie Watts, an elder in Monterey County who's been active in the world of social justice for decades. She told us about her life, like when she had to hide her NAACP activity while growing up and when she attended the famed March on Washington.
We're bringing you a special Valentine's Day themed episode this week. We interviewed a Monterey County couple about their love story, which started four years ago and has led to them having two kids together.
On this week's episode of Central Coast Chat, Angelica Cabral spoke with Michelle House of the Monterey County Health Department about their Cannabis Education Program.
On this week's episode of Central Coast Chat reporter and podcaster Angelica Cabral spoke with Casandra Arias. Arias is a librarian at the Cesar Chavez Library in Salinas.
She told us how the library has adjusted the way it operates to keep working during the pandemic, including starting a digital library card program
In this final episode, Cabral spoke with Dr. Allen Radner, the Chief Medical Officer at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System and the CEO of Salinas Valley Medical Clinic, a network of primary and specialty care clinics affiliated with SVMHS.
Intro music is from ©Christopher Seufert and intro wind chime is "Wind Chime, Tolling, A.wav" by InspectorJ from Freesound.org.
Wednesday was Inauguration Day and with it came the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration.
On this week's podcast episode, we spoke with Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who represents California's 20th district in the House of Representatives. He spoke about attending the Inauguration, immigration and what he hopes to work on with the new President.
On the 13th episode of Central Coast Chat, we spoke with Leydy Rangel, a communications specialist with the United Farm Workers Foundation.
This week, we spoke with Corin Slown, an assistant professor at California State University Monterey Bay. She tells us what it's been like adapting to virtual learning and how things have changed for her chemistry students during the pandemic.
She also talks about how she's been preparing for the upcoming semester.
Welcome back to Central Coast Chat!
Ready to reflect on 2020 and look to the future? Listen to this episode, in which we speak with journalists Chelcey Adami and David Rodriguez about stories they covered this year and what stories they think will be popping up in 2021.
This week we spoke with Joe Angel, sometimes known as "Le Joe" about his artwork and some of the pieces he's currently selling.
There will be no episode next week because of the Christmas holiday.
This week we spoke with Alfred Diaz-Infante, the CEO of CHISPA, a non-profit in Monterey County that seeks to provide affordable housing to locals. Part of the reason he's passionate about this work is because many of the people he helps remind him of his own family. To hear that story, stay tuned until the end of the episode.
We spoke with Melissa Kendrick, the CEO & Executive Director of the Food Bank for Monterey County about the work her organization does and how you can help support those in your community with them.
This week we interviewed Orlando Osornio, the new city councilmember for Salinas District 4, and Anthony Rocha, the new city councilmember for Salinas District 6. We discussed their history and background in Salinas, their priorities for the city and how we can best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wendy Root Askew is your new Monterey County Supervisor for District Four. We spoke with her for this week's podcast about why she loves Monterey, her priorities once she's in office and advice she has for women and mothers, like herself, who are looking to run for office.
This week we spoke with Kimbley Craig, the current frontrunner for the Salinas mayoral race. We covered the community's response to COVID-19, racial tensions and what it was like to run a campaign during a pandemic.
This week we spoke with Eric Woomer, an editor for the USA Today Network in California about what it's like for a journalist and an editor to cover Election Day, which he calls the Super Bowl for journalists.
This week we spoke with State Senator Anna Caballero and the acting city manager for Salinas, Jim Pia, about why they think it's important to vote and what they've been doing to prepare for this election.
Heard the latest news and are curious about unofficial ballot boxes? Check out this week's podcast to learn more about what's happening in Monterey County!
We're revamping our weekly podcast to have more of a Central Coast focus! Check out this week's episode about voter disenfranchisement, in which we speak with an attorney from the ACLU of Northern California.