Retiree reflects on half-century of agricultural work in Salinas Valley
SALINAS VALLEY — Jesse Holguin retired from Gonzales Irrigation Systems on Dec. 31, wrapping up a career of 40 years with the company and more than 50 years in total with agricultural work.
Holguin began working for Mel Fowler of King City 51 years ago,...
Students join Supervisor Lopez for annual pumpkin distribution in South Monterey County
SAN ARDO — Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez and his District 3 team marked the fifth consecutive year of distributing pumpkins to South Monterey County students, thanks to a generous donation from Braga Fresh Farms.
Lopez celebrated his birthday Oct. 14 by joining the team...
Miss Salinas Valley Fair competition opens for 2026 applicants
KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fair is now accepting applications for the 2026 Miss Salinas Valley Fair Competition, offering young women the chance to serve as ambassadors for one of the region’s most recognized events.
Eligible contestants must be ages 16 to 20 and reside...
Work continues on King City High’s new FFA facility
KING CITY — Construction continues at King City High School as the new Future Farmers of America facility begins to look more like a finished building.
The site will include new agriculture classrooms and workshops for KCHS students in the FFA program, and replaces...
Virtual exhibit highlights women innovators in agtech
SALINAS VALLEY — A new exhibition at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas highlights a diverse generation of women innovators and their contribution to agriculture by way of technology.
“From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators in California Agtech,” which premiered last month, uses multimedia to...
Raley’s, FirstFruits Farms deliver 30,000 pounds of apples to Food Bank for Monterey Country
MONTEREY COUNTY — Raley’s and Washington-based FirstFruits Farms donated 30,000 pounds of fresh apples on April 1 to the Food Bank for Monterey County.
The contribution was made possible by Raley’s customers who purchased select apples during January and February as part of a give-back...
Thousands of respirator masks distributed to Salinas Valley agricultural workers
SALINAS VALLEY — Numerous area leaders recently came together to distribute thousands of N95 respirators to protect agricultural workers, as ongoing air quality problems due to smoke from nearby wildfires caused essential workers in the outdoors to be in danger.
Last week the Air Quality...
Monterey County looks to eliminate prior cultivation requirement for outdoor cannabis growers
MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Board of Supervisors narrowly voted Jan. 9 to make changes to its outdoor cannabis cultivation pilot program, allowing growers to double their canopy size and eliminate a requirement that made permit applicants prove cannabis was cultivated on the property...
Lofgren visits Salinas Valley, receives nod from Panetta and Rivas
SALINAS — As the decennial redistricting process wrapped up last month, the concern from The World’s Salad Bowl started to mount. Local politicians, regional business giants and other community leaders asked how a plan to pair the international agricultural hub with the Silicon Valley...
