Middlebury Institute for International Studies presents the WorldViews Speaker Series online on 10/14, 10/28, and 11/11, discussing today's vexing world problems. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this series will be held entirely on Zoom. All are welcome. Please register in advance here - log in details will be provided after you register.

Wednesday, October 28, 12pm
The Ocean Climate Action Plan: Turning Ideas Into Advocacy
Detailing the Ocean Climate Action Plan’s path from development into law.
Speakers: Assoc. Prof. Jason Scorse (Director, Center for the Blue Economy) and Elise Birkett (MA Candidate, '22)

Wednesday, November 11, 4:30pm-5:30pm
The US-Russian Nuclear Predicament: Are We Doomed to Cooperate or Simply Doomed?
For more than a half century, Washington and Moscow have worked to manage their nuclear competition and to cooperate in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. But what’s the future of this often rocky relationship? We'll discuss insights into US-Russian nuclear dynamics and their implications for world stability.
Speakers: Prof. William Potter (Founding Director, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies) and Aubrey Means (MA Candidate ‘20)

Register for any of these online lectures today.

Now that its fall, it's time to start thinking about your COVID rain plans. Chic Event Rental has got you covered with our large collection of tents available in multiple sizes to meet county and state regulations on social distancing.

Give us a call today and our tenting experts can help determine the best tent for you. Remember, we're all in this together! Chic Event Rentals is locally owned and operated. You can find our showroom at 485 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

The Historic Garden League in Monterey continues to help keep the gardens at the Cooper-Molera Adobe beautiful during the fall season. A big thanks to these wonderful volunteers! The Historic Garden League is a non-profit organization formed to restore, support, and preserve the historic gardens of this area and to offer the opportunity to gain knowledge and appreciation of them. Interested in volunteering? Visit their website.

The Cooper-Molera Adobe is located at 506 Munras Avenue in Downtown Old Monterey. The Cooper-Molera Museum is currently closed by order of the Monterey County Health Department to slow the spread of Covid-19. But the gardens on the property remain open, as does Alta Bakery, home of amazing breakfasts and lunches, coffee and tea, and baked treats, all available for take-out or outdoor dining.

The long difficult summer of 2020 is coming to a close and with it, we're also going to be phasing out the Downtown Campbell Survival Project. In the five months that we ran the contest, we gave away well over $1000 worth of prizes. It was a lot of fun running the monthly giveaways and we want to thank everyone who entered our contests by sharing our posts or by purchasing something.

While it was fun running these monthly contests, it was also a lot of work! For the sake of the one person running all of the digital operations for Downtown Campbell, we'll be putting the #VivaDTC hashtag and email address away... at least for now. You'll probably be seeing these contests come back for special engagements in the future.

Before we end our run for 2020, we'd like to congratulate our September winners.

• $50 Gift Card to any Retailer: Mona T (Therapy Stores)
• $25 Gift Card to Opa: Roneet R
• Dozen Bagels from the Bagel Bar: Christine J.
• $10 Gift Certificate to Blue Line Pizza: Jason B, Gigi G, Jill S, Akaya, Jayne W.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us make the Downtown Campbell Survival Project a success.

There's going to be some heavy machinery in Downtown Campbell on Monday, September 28th to install the barriers and other equipment that we'll need to setup our parklets. There'll be a crane (a lot smaller than the one in this photo) getting everything in place throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

Parklets will be installed for 23 different businesses. Some businesses will only be occupying the parking space directly in front of their shop, but some will also adopt unused parking spots donated by their neighbors to get more space to work with.

In an effort to make the parklets more pleasing, potted trees will also be installed around the parklets. The trees will be arriving on Tuesday.

The parklets are here to stay for the near future. The City has stated that the parklets will remain for a minimum of 3 months and likely longer, but modifications to improve the parklet program will be made as necessary. If you have feedback that you would like to submit on the City of Campbell's parklet program, please email the City Manger's office at CMoffice@campbellca.gov.

will be in place for at least three months.

The current risk level for Santa Clara County based on the State of California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy is RED - Substantial (Tier 2 of 4).

Each county is assigned one of four tier rankings based on two critical infection numbers for the county:

• Adjusted number of new daily cases per 100,000 people.
• Percent of positive PCR tests.

At the Red tier, all Downtown Campbell businesses except for bars that do not serve food are allowed to be open in at least some capacity. As infection rates improve or get worse businesses will need to adjust their capacity accordingly. At the most restrictive (Purple - Widespread) tier, some businesses will not be able to operate at all.

The infection numbers are evaluated every Tuesday for changes. If our county numbers cause us to regress to a more restricted risk tier, we get one week to turn things around before we're required to comply with the more restricted rules.

The same applies for advancing to a less restricted tier. We need to show qualifying numbers for at two weeks* in a row before being allowed to progress.

Santa Clara County's infection numbers as of September 22 are:

• 5.6 new cases/day per 100K (Unadjusted)
• 4.7 new cases/day per 100K (Adjusted)
• 2.4% positive test cases

Adjusted vs Unadjusted Case Counts

Case counts are published as an adjusted and unadjusted number. The adjusted number is the unadjusted number with two important modifications.

• Case counts coming from prisons are excluded.
• A testing bonus/penalty is applied. Counties that test more are rewarded with a bonus reduction in their case count. Counties that don't test enough are penalized.

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

See the Blueprint for a Safer Economy site for more details about the different risk tier levels and what is and isn't allowed by the state at each level. Be aware that counties have the final say of what can be disallowed. Santa Clara County generally follows the state guidelines except for in one area. Indoor dining is not allowed in Santa Clara County.

Thank You for Taking Precautions

Thank you to all of you who have been careful and are taking precautions to reduce the risk to yourself and to others. The only way our businesses can remain open is if everyone acts responsibly and keeps the infection rates low until we have an effective vaccine and enough of that vaccine to end the Covid-19 pandemic. We understand that having to wear face masks, keeping distance, and not being able to hold private social events at your house is not a lifestyle choice anyone really enjoys, but it's what we all have to do for the sake of everyone in our community.

...Read More

Dearest Snake & Butterfly family,

Like all of us, 2020 has hit S & B really hard. We started out the year with the expectation of our lives moving in a completely different direction. In January, we put the shop on the market for sale after we had decided that it was time for us to begin our next chapters.

Celeste was going to continue making moves in local politics, changing the world one day at a time. Vince was going to attempt to retire and enjoy more time with his beautiful Maria. I was going on a grand European adventure and try to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

This year has had other plans for all of us. We caught on fire. An offer to buy the shop fell through because shelter in place started… and then we lost Vince.

A big part of the soul of the shop is gone and S&B will never be what it was. Celeste, Cris and I cannot carry the torch without him and are ready to move forward.

With all of that said, we hope that you can help us close the book on this chapter of our lives by spreading the word. Saying goodbye to the shop allows us to properly say goodbye to our beloved Vince and, in doing so, move forward with full hearts and hopes.

That is what Vince would have wanted for us, so that is what we shall do.

Inquiries can be directed to Robbie Matusich (408) 531-5542 / robbierealtor@gmail.com

Weekend street closure is in effect Friday night and all day this weekend! Put on a mask, come enjoy the great weather (and clean air) that we’re having, and grab a table downtown!

One well distanced musician will be plugged in next to Rocket Fizz from 6-8pm tonight and Saturday night.

This will be our last weekend of having the road closed for restaurant seating and outdoor shopping. On Monday, the road will be closed during the day to have barriers for our new parklets installed. On Tuesday, potted plants will join the traffic rails to soften the look. The parklets will look a lot better than the temporary barriers in place now.

Pocket Change Restaurant, home of late-night American comfort food, has a simple solution for social distancing: a new walk-up window on the side of the building in the alley! You can call in your order in advance at 831-643-9169 for a curbside pick-up, or simply visit us at 204 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey to place your order at the window. Cash and carry only.

The window is located in the alley on the left-hand side of the building. Walk past the tree, check out the menu printed on the white board, step up onto the deck, and ring the doorbell next to the menu. We'll be with you in a minute to take your order or bring you your food.

Don't want to leave your home to get your sandwiches, chili cheese fries, calamari, or wings? We also offer delivery through DoorDash.

Hula's Island Grill is now celebrating Happy Hour-and-a-Half every day, 4pm-5:30pm. Call for a reservation for a spot on our lanai, 831-655-4852. We're located at 622 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

Current Comics is having a Back Issue Blowout Sale! For a limited time only, boxed back issues with a cover price of $2.98 or less are only 50 cents each. We've got thousands of great books in stock at this amazing price. Come and check them out at 400 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey and be sure to wear a mask over your nose and mouth. (Be a hero!)