Today in Monterey
Monterey Public Library hosts a teen Halloween watch party from 4 to 6 p.m. today, Monday, October 26; its Halloween Storytime and Parade is Friday, October 30, at 10:15 a.m. at Colton Hall.
MPUSD high school students are released early at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, October 27, through Thursday, October 29; the school board meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
MPUSD says a statewide breach at testing contractor ETS exposed student information; the district says its own systems were not breached.
Monterey lost 21-8 to Soquel and plays at North Salinas on Saturday, October 31, at 12:30 p.m., according to MaxPreps. (unconfirmed)
MPUSD's YouthTruth survey closes Friday, October 30.
NEW: newly reported developments or upcoming opportunities. UPDATE: later substantive information on a covered story. ONGOING: continuing useful information. RESOLVED: the reported issue has ended. BACKGROUND: dated historical context, not a new development or confirmation of current availability. UNCONFIRMED: a story, continuing story or detail that could not be confirmed against its cited source on the edition date; the note under the headline says what is not confirmed. Today and countdown lines carry "(unconfirmed)" for the same reason. All local times are Pacific Daylight Time.
Business & Commercial Development
ONGOINGMonterey Regional Airport
Delta Air Lines plans return to Monterey Regional Airport
Monterey Regional Airport announced September 18 that Delta Air Lines will return with nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport. The airport says it will be Delta's first Monterey service in nearly two decades.
The airport's announcement does not give a start date and says Delta will announce service schedules, aircraft details and booking information. AeroRoutes reported September 17 that Delta filed schedules starting December 19, with two daily Los Angeles flights and one daily Salt Lake City flight on SkyWest Embraer E175 aircraft.
Arts, Culture & Events
ONGOING
Museum exhibition presents Dugan Aguilar's Native California photographs
Monterey Museum of Art lists Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar's Photographs of Native California through December 20. The exhibition draws from the Oakland Museum of California's permanent collection and documents contemporary Indigenous life and its history.
Aguilar, who died in 2018, was from the Mountain Maidu, Pit River and Walker River Paiute tribes, and his work documents Indigenous communities in California and Nevada.
ONGOINGMonterey Museum of Art
Rex Ray retrospective on view at Monterey Museum of Art through January 17
Rex Ray: We Are All Made of Light, a retrospective of the Bay Area artist Rex Ray (1956 to 2015), is on view at the Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street, through January 17, 2027, according to the museum. Cydney Payton guest curated the exhibition, which the museum says spans three galleries.
The museum describes Ray as renowned for his approach to mixed-media paintings. Its Afternoon with the Curator: Cydney Payton and Griff Williams is Saturday, November 14, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the museum. Advance purchase is required; tickets are $20 general admission and $5 for members, students, military, people under 18 and SNAP participants with EBT.
NEWMonterey Public Library and Colton Hall, 570 Pacific Street
Library lines up Halloween storytime, a haunted Colton Hall tour and classic monster movies
Monterey Public Library's Teen Advisory Board hosts A Night in the Other World, a Halloween Town watch party with themed crafts and a costume competition for middle and high school students, from 4 to 6 p.m. today, Monday, October 26, in the library's Community Room. Library and Museums Director Brian Edwards leads a Historic and Haunted Walking Tour of Colton Hall and the Old Jail from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tonight; registration has closed.
A Halloween Storytime and Parade for children is Friday, October 30, at 10:15 a.m. on the Colton Hall lawn, 570 Pacific Street. On Saturday, October 31, the library shows Frankenstein (1931) at 2 p.m. and The Wolf Man (1941) at 3:30 p.m. in the Community Room, with refreshments.
Susan Shillinglaw discusses her book Steinbeck's Landscapes: Where Story Meets Place in an online author talk Thursday, October 29, at 4 p.m. Registration is required.
Sports
UPDATEUNCONFIRMED
Monterey falls 21-8 to Soquel; North Salinas is next on October 31
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: all details. Check the source before relying on it.
Monterey High's varsity football team lost 21-8 to Soquel on Friday, October 23, according to MaxPreps. The Toreadors are now 5-3 overall and 2-3 in league play.
Monterey plays at North Salinas on Saturday, October 31; MaxPreps lists a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.
AI in Your Community
CogniLocal tracks where artificial intelligence and related automated systems are already entering the institutions that serve this community, who is deploying them, what they are being used for and what changes next.
ONGOINGMonterey CountyUNCONFIRMED
County policy manual lists a generative-AI policy
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: all details. Check the source before relying on it.
The County of Monterey's Board Policy Manual lists O-10, Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy, marked as new. The listing covers how county government approaches generative-AI tools; it does not show which departments use a particular AI product.
ONGOING
NPS is operating the first DGX GB300 AI supercomputer in the U.S. military
The Naval Postgraduate School commissioned an NVIDIA DGX GB300 in Monterey on July 22. NPS describes it as the first such system in the U.S. military and says it enables students and faculty to train models, analyze data and explore complex problems.
NPS lists uses including weather modeling, oceanic and operations research, cybersecurity, disaster resilience and response planning, and says the system operates within the school's existing power and water infrastructure. NVIDIA donated the system to the NPS Foundation, according to the school.
- Publication date: July 22, 2026
- Event date: Commissioned July 22, 2026
- Last movement: July 22 commissioning
- Source: DGX GB300 launch
Schools & Youth
ONGOING
La Mesa and Monte Vista teachers among MPUSD Reading is Key honorees
MPUSD announced its third annual Reading is Key awards on October 14, recognizing educators, grade-level teams and schools for student literacy growth during the 2025-2026 school year.
Honorees at Monterey schools include La Mesa Elementary teacher Greta Huang, recognized for the most stretch growth in literacy in second grade. La Mesa's second-grade team of Sharlene Linnevers, Sabrina Aliotti, Sheila Fierro and Huang, and Monte Vista Elementary's first-grade team of Caitlyn Cowardin, Crystal Nimmons, Maria Mateo and Jaimie Adamson, were recognized for outstanding foundational literacy achievement.
ONGOING
MPUSD YouthTruth survey is open through October 30
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District's 2026 YouthTruth survey closes this Friday, October 30. The district describes the survey as an annual way for students, families, teachers and staff to share feedback about their schools, and families receive the survey link through ParentSquare. Monterey city schools are part of MPUSD.
- Publication date: YouthTruth notice dated September 23, 2026
- Event date: September 28 through October 30, 2026
- Last movement: Survey opened September 28
- Source: MPUSD, YouthTruth Survey 2026
NEW
MPUSD notifies families of statewide student data breach at testing contractor
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District told families October 23 about a data breach at Educational Testing Service, the contractor that provides state student assessments for the California Department of Education. The district says ETS found that unauthorized individuals accessed and copied student information, which may include names, birth dates, addresses, student identification numbers and state assessment results.
The district says the incident was not a breach of MPUSD's own systems. Its notice points families to the state's breach notice and free identity-protection services; the identity-protection line is 833-931-8488, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
NEW
MPUSD high schools release early October 27 to 29; school board meets Tuesday
Monterey Peninsula Unified high school students, including those at Monterey High, are released early at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, October 27, through Thursday, October 29, for high school parent-teacher conferences, according to the district's October 24 community update.
The Board of Education meets Tuesday, October 27, at 6:30 p.m. in open session at the District Services Center, 540 Canyon Del Rey in Del Rey Oaks. The public can attend in person, on Zoom or watch on AMP-TV.
Still Developing
The latest confirmed movement, the open question and the next checkpoint.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDRoadmap to Resilience budget choices
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: the $11.7 million deficit, the workshop dates (September 29, October 7, October 12, November 16, December 3) and that no recap has been posted. Check the source before relying on it.
The city identified an $11.7 million structural deficit and held budget workshops September 29, October 7 and October 12 (on Zoom), with more set for November 16 and December 3. The City Council's October 20 agenda listed an update on the Roadmap to Resilience. The city has not posted a recap of any workshop or of the October 20 update, or any resulting budget direction.
Still unresolved: Specific balancing choices and final budget action.
Next checkpoint: A staff report or recap of the October 20 council update, the November 16 workshop, or a budget recommendation.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDMonterey police-chief succession
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: all details. Check the source before relying on it.
Police Chief Dave Hober’s retirement takes effect November 15. The city announced October 15 that Assistant Chief Mike Bruno will serve as interim chief starting November 16, and said a nationwide recruitment for a permanent chief will begin in early November and is expected to conclude in early 2027.
Still unresolved: Permanent police chief appointment.
Next checkpoint: Start of the nationwide recruitment in early November and the eventual permanent appointment.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDCasanova fire recovery
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: former residents retrieving belongings the week of October 5 by appointment, and the city's August 20 recovery update. Check the source before relying on it.
Former residents began retrieving belongings from the fire-damaged building at 800 Casanova Avenue the week of October 5, entering by appointment, Monterey County Weekly reported. The City Council’s October 6 agenda lists a closed-session conference with legal counsel on the receipt of 54 government claims pertaining to the March 9 fire. The city’s latest dated recovery entry remains an August 20 update; it does not establish how many former tenants still need assistance or that recovery is complete.
Still unresolved: Current displacement, rebuilding and assistance status.
Next checkpoint: Any public report out of the October 6 closed session, the building’s future, or a current city, county or relief-agency housing update.
OPENUNCONFIRMEDFlock transparency and policy update
Not confirmed against the source as of October 26, 2026: all details. Check the source before relying on it.
Police Department Policy 433 sets 30-day retention, limits sharing to law-enforcement and prosecutorial agencies and requires a yearly search audit. The department's Flock transparency portal lists 35 cameras and was last updated June 13, 2025; no 2026 camera inventory has been posted.
Still unresolved: A 2026 camera inventory and any 2026 update to the City Council.
Next checkpoint: Current MPD policy, transparency portal, annual review, contract amendment or council action.
About CogniLocal
CogniLocal is human-led community information supported by AI-assisted research, source discovery, verification and story tracking. Editorial judgment and final publication decisions remain human. Meet the publisher and read the editorial standards.
News tips and corrections: editor@cognilocal.com.