Today in Monterey
Monterey voters cast ballots November 3 for mayor and City Council Districts 1 and 2; KAZU says results are still being released. (unconfirmed)
Monterey Public Library screens East of Eden today, Thursday, November 5, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Family STEM Day at Monterey Peninsula College and a library Wharf Walk are Saturday, November 7.
The Monterey Bay Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m. Sunday, November 8, in downtown Monterey.
MPUSD schools and district offices are closed for Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11.
A Caltrans survey on the State Route 68 corridor plan is open through November 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.
Community & Culture
ONGOING
MPUSD schools and offices closed for Veterans Day November 11
All Monterey Peninsula Unified School District schools and district offices will be closed Wednesday, November 11, for Veterans Day, the district said. The district describes itself as serving a military-connected community.
Business & Commercial Development
ONGOINGMonterey Regional Airport
Delta Air Lines plans return to Monterey Regional Airport
Monterey Regional Airport announced 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.
Airport Executive Director Chris Morello told The Carmel Pine Cone that the flights begin December 19, in an item the airport posted to its news page October 16. Delta will offer two daily round trips to Los Angeles and one to Salt Lake City. AeroRoutes reported September 17 that the flights will use 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 is drawn from the Oakland Museum of California's permanent collection.
The museum describes Aguilar, who died in 2018, as a celebrated Indigenous photographer from the Mountain Maidu, Pit River and Walker River Paiute tribes.
ONGOINGMonterey Museum of Art
Monterey Museum of Art's Iluminado installation runs through January 24
Monterey Museum of Art lists Iluminado, its fourth annual seasonal installation, from October 23, 2026, through January 24, 2027. Its centerpiece, Rooms of Possibility, was created by Monterey artist and author Anne Ylvisaker, the museum's artist-in-residence. The museum says Iluminado invites visitors to explore, create and contribute to a collective work of art.
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 prolific and multi-faceted creative approach to mixed media paintings.
ONGOINGMonterey Public Library and Old Fisherman's Wharf
Library screens East of Eden today and leads a Wharf Walk November 7
Monterey Public Library shows the 1955 film East of Eden, adapted from John Steinbeck's novel and starring James Dean, today, Thursday, November 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. in its Community Room.
Historian Tim Thomas leads a library Wharf Walk on the history of Old Fisherman's Wharf and Monterey's waterfront on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to noon. Registration is required, and tours meet outside #1 Old Fisherman's Wharf at the pink Harbor House.
ONGOINGMonterey Public Library and Old Fisherman's Wharf
Library sets Cannery Row film, Cannery Row walking tour and Stevenson Unbirthday
Monterey Public Library shows the 1982 film Cannery Row, set on Monterey's Cannery Row, on Thursday, November 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. in its Community Room, with a discussion after the film.
Historian Tim Thomas leads a four-hour Cannery Row Days walking tour on Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting at #1 Old Fisherman's Wharf; registration is required and the library suggests bringing a lunch. That afternoon, from 2 to 5 p.m., the Robert Louis Stevenson Club holds its Unbirthday Celebration in the Community Room, with cake, tea and readings from Stevenson's 1879 Old Pacific Capital. No registration is required for the celebration.
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.
BACKGROUND
NPS is operating the first DGX GB300 AI supercomputer in the U.S. military
The Naval Postgraduate School commissioned an NVIDIA DGX GB300 AI supercomputer in Monterey on July 22. NPS describes it as the first such system in the U.S. military.
NPS says the system provides the school and approved research partners with high-performance computing capability and operates within the school's existing power and water infrastructure. NVIDIA donated the system to the NPS Foundation, which installed it at NPS, according to the school.
- Publication date: July 22, 2026
- Event date: Commissioned July 22, 2026
- Last movement: July 22 commissioning
- Source: DGX GB300 launch
BACKGROUNDMonterey County
County is ending the sheriff's Flock camera contract; city police cameras remain
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted September 22 to end the Sheriff's Office contract with Flock Safety, Voices of Monterey Bay reported. Voices describes the automated license plate readers as solar-powered cameras that use artificial intelligence to record and identify license plates.
Voices reported October 8 that Flock had roughly two months to remove more than 60 cameras across unincorporated Monterey County, and KAZU reported the county's cameras will be gone by December. Voices also reported that license plate readers remain in local cities where police have Flock contracts, including Monterey, and that a group called Get the Flock Out Monterey County has publicly announced itself.
BACKGROUNDNaval Postgraduate School
NPS selects nine Digital Trident II research projects
The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey selected nine research projects for its Digital Trident II initiative, which pairs NPS faculty and students with operational stakeholders and outside partners on challenges facing U.S. forces in the Pacific. NPS Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Michael Hesse announced the projects October 7, and the school published the list October 21.
NPS says the initiative is meant to accelerate what it calls super intelligence (SI) research. Projects include a multi-agent framework for wargaming, an agentic mission planner for long-endurance drone operations and an AI-powered decision-support tool for readiness and talent management. The selected teams will next work with operational stakeholders and technical partners to refine requirements, according to the school.
BACKGROUNDNaval Postgraduate School
NPS and Marine Corps University hackathon builds AI prototypes for military education
The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and Marine Corps University held a joint hackathon September 15 to 18 to develop and test artificial intelligence prototypes for military education and training. The school says the event ran simultaneously in Monterey and in Quantico, Virginia, and that more than 30 participants worked at NPS.
Five NPS teams presented prototypes to a judging panel. NPS says Marine Corps Capt. Christopher Adams will develop and evaluate a concept as part of his thesis research. The school published its account October 8.
Schools & Youth
BACKGROUND
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 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 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 lists a phone line for questions, 833-931-8488, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding major U.S. holidays.
ONGOINGMonterey Peninsula College
Monterey Peninsula College holds Family STEM Day November 7
Monterey Peninsula College's annual Family STEM Day is Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. The district says students can earn Saturday Academy credit by checking in at the MPUSD table.
ONGOING
MPUSD sets high school transfer window and November conference early releases
Monterey Peninsula Unified families can request a high school transfer for the 2027-2028 school year during a window from November 9 to December 11. The district says the window is open to students entering or attending grades 9 to 12, families are encouraged to apply online during that period and transfers depend on space at each school. The MPUSD Transfer Office is at 831-392-3983.
Parent-teacher conferences for elementary, middle and TK-8 schools are November 16 to 20. The district lists early release at 12:50 p.m. for elementary and TK-8 schools and 1:30 p.m. for middle schools.
ONGOING
MPUSD wins a Golden Bell Award; Early College applications open December 1
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has been named a 2026 California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award winner, the district announced in its October 31 community update. MPUSD says it is the district's second consecutive Golden Bell Award.
The district invites families to explore its three Early College pathways at Marina High, Monterey High and Seaside High. Applications open December 1. The next Board of Education meeting is Tuesday, November 10, at the District Services Center.
ONGOING
MPUSD tells families it does not take part in immigration enforcement
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District told families October 29 that it does not participate in immigration enforcement activities. The district said it was writing "in light of recent events in our community" and did not describe those events.
The message says MPUSD schools are safe, welcoming places where every student belongs.
ONGOING
NPS professor Giovanna Oriti wins the school's top teaching award
Naval Postgraduate School professor Giovanna Oriti is the 2026 recipient of the Rear Adm. John J. Schieffelin Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Monterey school announced October 28. NPS says the award is selected by a committee of peers and administered by the NPS Foundation.
NPS says Oriti has helped students build technical expertise in areas such as power electronics for nearly two decades.
Elections
ONGOINGUNCONFIRMED
Monterey mayor and two council seats were on the November 3 ballot; results still coming in
Not confirmed against the source as of November 5, 2026: whether results for the Monterey mayor and council races had been posted as of November 5. Check the source before relying on it.
City of Monterey voters decided three local races on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. Tyller Williamson and Vince Malfitano ran for mayor. Kim Barber and Tom Reeves ran for City Council District 1, and Jeff Whitmoyer, Vicki Nohrden and Alec Manas ran for City Council District 2, according to the Vote or Else Monterey County ballot guide.
KAZU reported November 3 that election officials will continue to release results over the coming days as they complete the tabulation process. Results for the three Monterey races were not yet posted in the sources available on November 5.
KAZU reported November 2 that Williamson, first elected to the City Council in 2018 and mayor since 2022, sought re-election, and described Malfitano as a retired businessman. KAZU put the city's budget deficit at nearly $12 million. Malfitano did not respond to KAZU's requests for comment, the station said.
Mailed ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the county elections office; the California Secretary of State lists November 10 as the receipt date.
Still Developing
The latest confirmed movement, the open question and the next checkpoint.
OPENRoadmap to Resilience budget choices
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 has posted the recording and slides from the October 12 Zoom workshop. The City Council's October 20 agenda listed an update on the Roadmap to Resilience. The city has not posted a recap 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.
OPENMonterey police-chief succession
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.
OPENCasanova fire recovery
The Housing Authority of the County of Monterey's October 15 property management report, in its October 26 board packet, lists all 86 units at Casanova Plaza as offline, and its finance report says the property has received no rental revenue since the fire damage in March. Minutes of the authority's May 26 board meeting record the executive director reporting that all displaced Casanova residents had been housed.
Still unresolved: Rebuilding timeline for Casanova Plaza and when residents can return.
Next checkpoint: A Housing Authority or city update on rebuilding.
OPENFlock transparency and policy update
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.
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