Salinas City Council moved forward on a rental assistance program for residents at immediate risk of eviction.
The program targets eligible city residents who are up to three months behind in rent and facing eviction. The one-time assistance is capped at $9,000 and applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis until all program funds are exhausted.
The city appropriated $750,000 of Family Homeless Challenge Funds for the program, however, $250,000 of that amount has been earmarked for the Monterey County Office Education (MCOE) to provide rental assistance for families with children enrolled in school at risk of homelessness.
The city council had previously approved $500,00 for rental assistance in the 2025-26 budget. This means for the remainder of the fiscal year, the rental assistance program has a total budget allocation of $1 million, which is projected to support approximately 111 households.
Here’s a look at what else is happening across Monterey County this week.
Vista Energy fire at Moss Landing blanketed nearby estuary with toxic metals
An independent study to measure the toxic impacts of the Vista Energy lithium battery fire at Moss Landing in January earlier this year has estimated that 55,000 pounds of heavy metals were deposited in the wetland around Elkhorn Slough.
The study, published on Dec. 1, offers a unique window into the disaster by San Jose University researchers who worked at the slough before and after the fire, which ignited on Jan. 16 and prompted the evacuation of about 1,200 nearby Monterey County residents.
According to the report, the heavy metals which make up the cathode material in the lithium batteries that burned include nickel, manganese and cobalt. Researchers took samples at hundreds of locations across roughly half a square mile of wetland around Elkorn Slough and analyzed them under a special microscope to find some metallic particles were smaller than “one-tenth width of a human hair—small enough to travel long distances and lodge deep in the lungs.”
Based on their estimates, “roughly 1,000 to 1,400 metric tons of cathode material could have been carried into the smoke plume” and what was found in the marsh represents about 2% of what may have been released.
CSUMB breaks ground on new student housing
CSUMB launched a renovation project that will transform office space at Gavilan Hall into student housing. The 47,000 square-foot, three-story building will be turned into residential units for about 200 students in order to meet recent enrollment growth and housing demands.
Renovations will fully replace plumbing, heating and ventilation systems, and provide all new restrooms for each bedroom, a living room for each suite, and accessibility upgrades. The courtyard will be furnished with an outdoor lounge and other amenities.
The adjoining Gavilan Hall Annex building will also be renovated and will be converted into a common space for residents with a study room, tv room, lounge and kitchen.
The Gavilan Hall Renovation construction is scheduled to begin this month and be ready for the fall 2026 semester. The architecture firm is LPA and the general contractor is Otto Construction.
Listening session scheduled for Monterey County Health Department’s Behavioral Health Bureau project
The third community listening session for the Monterey County Health Department’s Behavioral Health Bureau MHRC Project is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Health Department’s Whitney Conference Room, 1270 Natividad Road in Salinas.
The meeting is also available via Zoom (https://montereycty.zoom.us/j/95472806788) or livestream on the County of Monterey Facebook and YouTube channels.
Christmas cheer in Soledad
On Saturday, Dec. 6, the city of Soledad is holding their annual downtown Christmas parade along Front St. The event activities start at 2 p.m., and parade kicks off at 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: $1 million for pilot rental assistance program and more Salinas news
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
