Bryan Flores, an Operations Manager with Monterey County Parks, came on this episode to discuss the re-opening of Toro Park later this month. The park initially closed after sustaining damage last August during fire season, but it's on track to be available to visit soon.

This week on Central Coast Chat, we discuss a somber topic, anti-Asian violence. We brought on Marina City Councilwoman Kathy Biala to talk about her community's reaction to the violence and what she hopes to do as a leader.

The country is still reeling after the most recent mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta. To discuss these tragedies, we brought on Rudy Espinoza, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action to discuss gun control activism and how people can get involved. Moms Demand Action is a "grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence."

Everyone on the Central Coast knows of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but did you know that one of their senior aquarists has co-written a children's book about a jellyfish who goes on a big adventure? Listen to this week's episode of Central Coast Chat for our interview with the author.

With a decrease in case rates in Monterey County, some K-6 schools are beginning to re-open. For this episode, we spoke with the principal of Toro Park School in Salinas and the Superintendent of Washington Union School District about the re-opening of their school.

Our guest this episode is Amy Wu, a former reporter for The Californian. While with us she began covering stories about women in the field of agricultural technology, known as ag tech.

She's since started working as for a farm and has transitioned her initial work into a book called "From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing

How Our Food Is Grown," coming out April 20, 2021.

This week, we interviewed Ruthie Watts, an elder in Monterey County who's been active in the world of social justice for decades. She told us about her life, like when she had to hide her NAACP activity while growing up and when she attended the famed March on Washington.

We're bringing you a special Valentine's Day themed episode this week. We interviewed a Monterey County couple about their love story, which started four years ago and has led to them having two kids together.

On this week's episode of Central Coast Chat, Angelica Cabral spoke with Michelle House of the Monterey County Health Department about their Cannabis Education Program.

On this week's episode of Central Coast Chat reporter and podcaster Angelica Cabral spoke with Casandra Arias. Arias is a librarian at the Cesar Chavez Library in Salinas. 

She told us how the library has adjusted the way it operates to keep working during the pandemic, including starting a digital library card program