Katie Rodriguez

Trump administration says it won't tap emergency funds to pay food aid The move means 42 million people will miss SNAP benefits in November unless Congress acts.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

“The family makes 16% of raw sugar produced in the U.S. through Florida Crystals, which recorded $5.75 billion in revenue in 2024. “

Local schools join a competition to develop robotic and AI solutions for agricultural challenges. Local schools compete to develop robotic & AI solutions for agricultural challenges.

“Ag today doesn’t look like what it did five years ago,” says Richard Chapman, a professor of agricultural engineering at Hartnell. He advises the school’s Farm Robotics Challenge team - part of a nationwide competition soon to welcome its third cohort.
www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_n...

A Cal Poly study follows one Salinas Valley lettuce grower to reveal cost increases squeezing farmers. Study shows 1,366% rise in regulatory costs for Salinas farmers, straining profitability. Key drivers include safety, labor regulations.

Over nearly 20 years working with a single lettuce producer, Cal Poly researchers found that regulatory compliance costs had increased by 1,366% since 2006, while total production costs rose only 44.4% — without a matching increase in revenue. www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_n...

A groundbreaking underwater science camera is helping researchers study how deep-sea octopus move. Explore how the EyeRIS camera reveals insights into deep-sea octopus mechanics, aiding research with groundbreaking 3D imaging at depths of 4,000 meters.

So cool, how octopuses do their octopus thing.

Reporting about research @kakanikatija.bsky.social is doing at @mbarinews.bsky.social by @katierodriguez.bsky.social for @montereycountynow.com

"They have no bones yet are able to move across complex underwater terrain with ease,” Katija says.

EPA axes contracts with unions The agency cited "national security" in moving to terminate the collective bargaining agreements.

Bob Coomber, EPA’s senior labor adviser, said the reason for terminating the contracts was “to prevent irreparable harm to national security.”
www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Although the new research into the 2013 sunflower sea star die-off doesn’t focus much on California, it offers incredible insight—especially alongside the work at Moss Landing’s Sunflower Sea Star Lab, which looks to hopefully reintroduce the species to the wild. ⭐️

The EPA Canceled These 21 Climate Justice Projects The Trump administration cut climate funding for nearly two dozen environmental, food, and farming grants.

Since President Trump's first day in office, hundreds of environmental justice grants have been cancelled by the EPA. Among these are 21 projects designed to improve climate, farming, and food resilience in underserved communities across the United States.

The One Big Beautiful Bill passed, leaving local ag leaders trying to figure out what’s next. Explore how the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill affects local agriculture, focusing on SNAP cuts, farm impacts, and immigration enforcement issues.

“Quite frankly, I think the USDA is being looked at as being a poor employer. Science is a very slow process. Because of some vacillation, you have all this uncertainty on whether they’ll commit to the [work].” www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_n...

I work as an elder and hospice caregiver, which I am oddly passionate about. I can love on them shamelessly and no one complains about my codependence. It's a win-win situation. Many of my caregiving colleagues complain about the repetitive questions and, sometimes reactions, of the elderly, especially when those patients happen to read the newspaper, especially with the current downward spiral of our country — as if these people haven't lived through enough horror... I love my dementia peeps, but sometimes wonder if there's a Guinness Book World Record for how many times an hour a dementia patient can repeat the same question — it's got to be in the hundreds. At least with small children, they ask different questions. Dementia patients will get stuck on one short question and ask it until you can interrupt their train(carousel) of thought and successfully redirect their attention. That carousel is pretty manic sometimes. A couple days ago, I picked up my mail from the post office and drove over to the nursing home to take (let's call her "Miss Daisy") Miss Daisy out for a drive. Before we took off on our road trip, to the end of The Road and back, in our landlocked little town (Juneau, Alaska), I set my copy of The Onion down in front of her. Over our two-hour excursion, tiny Miss Daisy read that front page at least a dozen times and each time she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw, then put it down on the dash board and, a minute later, discover it anew. I think it was the best afternoon of my life. We don't often hear them laugh and when they do, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. ... Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the really important work all of you do. You make the world a better place.

I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.

The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.

This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.

HUGELY Important.

USDA reverses course on Salinas office closure, but funding still remains uncertain. USDA rescinds Salinas office closure plan, ensuring temporary stability amid funding uncertainty.

An update for those tracking the USDA changes in office leases, workforce and funding streams. The local Monterey USDA service station will stay, for now, but funding streams remain in flux. www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/news_b...

How Trump’s National Weather Service Cuts Could Cost Lives Weather experts warn that staff cuts at the National Weather Service that have been made by the Trump administration are a danger to public safety as tornadoes, hurricanes and heat loom this spring and summer

New by @andreatweather.bsky.social on National Weather Service cuts & expanding fallout. We're headed into life-threatening territory, & you don't have to take my word for it: consider the joint statement by former NWS directors (of various political affiliations). www.scientificameric...

Hi Bluesky- Can’t tell if I’m late to the party or early but I’m down for the cause.

I’m a reporter based in Monterey, covering Ag, climate, Big Sur, County Board of Supes and more for the Monterey County Weekly. I freelance on the side. Let’s make this app a better one 🤌🏾