The weeks sure do go by quickly, especially while anticipating a vaccination appointment and a new chapter beyond the pandemic. For this Wildlife Wednesday, a California sea lion swims past a sea anemone. The anemone's beauty and varietal colors are deceptive. They spend most of their lives attached to rocks waiting for fish to pass close enough to get ensnared in their venomous tentacles. You can also view them in tide pools in Monterey. Please enjoy tide pool inhabitants by observation as much as possible, and step lightly for your safety and the animals. Another great shot by @carra.oneal via Instagram.

Monterey County, through its Monterey County CARES Small Business Relief Program, is providing a second round of financial assistance to local small businesses that have experienced a loss of revenue due to COVID-19.

This program provides up to $10,000 in grant-funded reimbursement to businesses with 5-25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees for eligible COVID-19 related operating expenses.

NOTE: The application period will open on February 8, 2021. Visit https://www.montereycountywdb.org/monterey-county-cares/ for details. Flyer also available in SPANISH

ECHO Housing is conducting a Fair Housing Training for tenants, landlords, other members of the housing industry, and the general public.

They will discuss Federal and State fair housing laws, and respond to your questions.

Learn more about ECHO Fair Housing at https://www.echofairhousing.org/

New touchless pedestrian button technology has been installed along North Fremont, and it is the first of its kind installed in the City of Monterey, as well as in Monterey County. The installation of this technology was funded by Transportation Agency for Monterey County's Regional Surface Transportation (RSTP) Grant Funds.

Hand wave activated pedestrian push buttons benefit people with disabilities and will cause a reduction in pedestrian exposure to high touch surfaces (a benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic). This is another project to enhance mobility in the North Fremont Monterey Business District corridor. The City is looking into the technology being installed at other crosswalks with a high volume of foot traffic. For more information: https://www.monterey.org/Portals/0/Newsroom/2020/20_1221-Pedestrian-Push-Buttons.pdf

At last night's February 2 Council Meeting, the City Council adopted by unanimous vote a new sea level rise adaptation plan, Adapting a Threatened Transportation Network to Sea Level Rise.

The City of Monterey is leading the charge by doing this type of transportation study. Parallel to us, the City of Santa Cruz is doing a similar study. So the Central Coast is taking the lead in California. In 2018, the City secured a $212,000 CalTrans grant to study the effects of sea level rise on the City's transportation network and develop transportation adjustments. According to FEMA every $1 spent on natural hazard mitigation reduces related future costs by an average of $6. Thus, by adopting this study the City is better able to tackle the challenge of sea level rise later. 

The plan is available with the meeting agenda materials, and will be posted on the Sea Level Rise page of haveyoursaymonterey.org.

More ways to participate in this process will be posted as more information on grants become available. Recommended next steps are shown in the graphic below:

The Monterey Public Library Friends and Foundation invite you to the library's annual Chocolate and Wine fundraiser. It is a virtual event this year, so you can enjoy tasting and sipping from the comfort of you home, February 27th from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

See the flyer for details and to sign up, or go directly to investinmpl.org.

The chart above was updated on February 1. According to the Health Department, vaccine allocation (doses received) and administration (shots given) information will be updated once a week on Mondays by 5:00 p.m.

Here are today's numbers from CHOMP:

Have Your Say Monterey - the City's new public engagement portal:

Visit https://haveyoursaymonterey.org and register to have YOUR say!

Please note: Data refreshes Tuesday through Saturday

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