Voices Of Monterey Bay

Educator and activist Carissa Purnell makes the case for shifting spending priorities in Salinas.

Our series of interviews with Salinas municipal candidates in the Nov. 3 election continues with mayoral candidate Mike Lipe.

For Amber Solorio and others, being just months too young means four more long years before voting in their first presidential election: "youth are the future yet someone who is 50 years older will determine who will lead us these next four years."

Eagerly exercising her right to vote for the first time, Youth Beat reporter Ilyne Castellanos is disappointed others are less enthused: "for four years, I have wanted to vote, and now that we are here, I see that not everyone is as ready as I thought."

There's always a record somewhere.

A lot of dead presidents are getting thrown around in Monterey County's 4th District Supervisor race.

Before his illustrious career as a newsman, Joe Livernois had a brief stint as a politician. Find out all about it in his entertaining story.

Michelle Lee, Monterey County's celebrity baker, survived kitchen bloodbaths, competitive ghouling and horrifyingly kitschy judges to compete in the final round of the Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship. Will she win it all? The final episode airs at 9 p.m. today. In the meantime, read all about her in this profile by Mike Hale.

With an infusion of fresh memes from Connie Bruckner, a reader from Vienna, Austria, Voices has curated nearly 200 meme-orable memes, appropriate for 2020.

Check out our latest installment from the Salinas campaign trail, this week featuring Wes White, activist, teacher and candidate for Salinas mayor.

Our Youth Voting Edition: Several great perspectives here about voting, including stories by two talented and engaged young women, Amber Solorio and Ilyne Castellano. Ilyne will be voting for the first time in November and Amber regrets she's too young to vote. And, for laughs, check out my account of the dumbest political campaign ever staged by an 18-year-old.

Make sure to check out our ongoing interview series with Salinas Underground Podcast to hear directly from candidates running for a variety of local offices: