Author: KION

Mickey Adams

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) — A World War II Prisoner of War (POW) is being laid to rest on Saturday after eighty years since his death.

Captain Ralph Rowland was identified this past year as one of the bodies recovered from the Enoura Maru attack on January 9, 1945.

Captain Rowland was a POW during world war II and was assigned to Fort Mills of Corregidor Island of the Philippines.

He was held as a prisoner of war in the Phillipines and survived an attack on the Oryoku Maru.

Rowland will be laid next to his wife Flora, who passed in 1979.

The ceremony taking place at the Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz at 1 p.m. on August 16

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Mickey Adams

MARINA, Calif. (KION-TV) — Marina-based Joby Aviation still flying through milestones.

Earlier this week, the company had their first successful electric air taxi flight between the Marina and Monterey airports.

The company says that the flight took approximately 12 minutes to fly over ten nautical miles while proving the team’s competency to conduct these test flights away from the Marina home base.

Joby plans to begin flight testing with FAA pilots early next year, hoping to launch the air taxi service in Los Angeles and New York following certification.

Joby Aviation Reaches Major Milestone

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) — Marina based air taxi company Joby Aviation announced a major milestone on Tuesday, successfully transitioning from vertical to cruise flight and back again with a pilot on board.

The company says it has remotely piloted more than 40 thousand miles of test flights since 2017, but this is the first time they were able to achieve the transition flight with a pilot on board, that flight happening at the Marina Airport on April 22nd. They have tested several more times since that successful flight, with 3 different pilots. This development making Joby the first company to routinely perform inhabited testing of electric air taxis.

Joby says that their electric air taxi is designed to transport a pilot and 4 passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and none of the emissions. Now, their next goal is working towards final testing in Dubai ahead of a rollout of passenger flights in the region.

This also marks a step towards TIA testing with FAA pilots onboard, getting closer to becoming legal to fly over American cities

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Mickey Adams

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) — The California State Association of Counties has sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, calling for states to receive funding for November’s special election in advance.

The association says that local cities, special districts, and schools share the costs of regularly scheduled elections, but costs for the special election would fall almost entirely on counties.

The special election in 2021 cost a total of $200 million and now the association is concerned that another special election would cost even more.

They are reiterating how important it is for all counties to have the funds needed for the special election , saying that it is critical and necessary.

Mixed opinions locally are coming in for the governor’s redistricting plan.

“Not only does this map continue to reflect the will of Californians, but it is also a responsible and responsive approach to the existential threat to democracy that Donald Trump’s actions pose,” said the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

This, while the Monterey County Republican Party released a statement demanding to know the cost of the election to Monterey County, saying, “Residents deserve clear answers about how much of their tax dollars will be diverted to fund this partisan maneuver, which prioritizes political power over the public’s needs.”

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Mickey Adams

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV) — A woman accused of robbing a bank in Watsonville was placed in police custody Friday evening.

Watsonville Police released a video of the arrest, saying that reports of a bank robbery on the 1400 block of Main Street came in around 2:39 p.m. Friday.

A woman wearing a black hoodie, white medical mask, and pushing a shopping cart entered a bank, gave a threatening note to the teller, and then ran from the scene with the stolen money.

As police interviewed witnesses, one detective spotted the suspect — 34-year-old Elizabeth Rojas — across the street, and arrested her.

The police recovered most of the money as well as a small kitchen knife.

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Mickey Adams

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Monterey County District Attorney announced the conviction of a life prisoner in Salinas Valley State Prison over two separate stabbings.

In February of 2023, Moises Meraz Espinoza allegedly attacked his cellmate after evening lockdown, stabbing him more than 20 times and causing life threatening injuries.

In November of 2024, Espinoza was seen walking up to another inmate in the prison yard before stabbing him, also causing life threatening injuries.

He was found guilty of the two assaults and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 27.

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Victor Guzman

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — CHP Monterey says power lines are down along 600 River Road, forcing the CHP to shut down the road in the area.

This portion of River Road’s nearest cross street is Parker Road.

The CHP says PG&E is working on repairs but there’s no estimated time to reopen the area.

Anyone trying to travel in and out of 600 River Road is asked to avoid it for now.

This is a developing story

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Jeanette Bent

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV) — UPDATE 12:26 PM – KION received a statement from Forest Hill Manor administrator Ryan Taylor on the alleged sexual assault arrest of Paul Nkoy Lumbi, Jr.

“In response to the request from the media for a statement regarding Mr. Lumbi’s arrest, Forest Hill Manor’s primary mission is the safety and wellbeing of its patients. Our goal in everything we do is to provide quality, compassionate care to all our patients and to their family members. Forest Hill Manor timely notified all necessary and appropriate authorities when this issue first came to light. We havefully cooperated with these authorities at every step of this investigation. We continue to fully cooperate with all authorities by providing all information that is available to us. We will continue to fully cooperate going forward.

All of Forest Hill Manor’s staff takes great pride in providing quality care to our patients and for the benefit of our community. We remain committed to this in the future.”

Lumbi, Jr. resigned when the allegations first came to light. Lumbi, Jr. was arrested on felony charges of an alleged sexual assault of three elderly patients at Forest Hill Manor in Pacific Grove. Lumbi Jr.

Pacific Grove nursing assistant arrested for alleged sexual assault against elderly patients; Attorney General

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced Thursday that Paul Nkoy Lumbi, Jr. of Monterey County was arrested on felony charges of alleged sexual assault of three elderly patients at Forest Hill Manor in Pacific Grove.

They said that Lumbi Jr. was working as a certified nursing assistant at the time of the alleged assaults.

“Caregivers have a responsibility to treat those in their care with compassion and dignity,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Sexual assault is always unacceptable and assaulting an individual during one of the most vulnerable and difficult periods of their life reaches a new low.”

The Monterey County Superior Court currently has the felony complaint, charging Lumbi Jr. with multiple felony counts of sexual assault, including forcible lewd acts on a dependent adult, forcible rape, and rape of a person incapable of giving consent.

The Attorney General’s office says that Lumbi Jr. had worked at other facilities in Monterey County and is currently employed at Cypress Ridge Care Center.

They are asking anyone with information regarding accusations of sexual misconduct by Lumbi Jr. to submit a complaint to the Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse at oag.ca.gov/dmfea/reporting.

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Sergio Berrueta

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (KION) – Many of the cars on display or up for auction this week have an interesting backstory. The winner of last year’s Concours d’Elegance drove his historic ride across the country. 

Fritz Burkhard gave a fist pump after his 11-day trek across the county. Burkhard, a world-renowned automotive collector, is arriving in Pebble Beach.

He was behind the wheel of his $30 million 1937 Bugatti Type 57s.

Burkhard won Best of Show at last year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. He talks about his journey across the country, traveling 300 miles a day.

“Eight hours at least driving every day. You have a great country, the roads in Nebraska, Wyoming, we went off the highway. Sometimes we were half an hour or one hour alone. Nobody around us. Just cruising through those beautiful landscapes. Fantastic. So much fun at every gas station,” Burkhard said. 

Burkhard is checking out some of this year’s cars up for auction by Gooding Christie’s.

But what is it like to drive a 1937 bugatti?

“It’s like a mustang horse, except you have brakes to slow it down,” Burkhard said.

When asked if he would be driving back to Maine after the car show, Burkhard said, “No…no.”

The Concours d’Elegance will be held on Aug. 1

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Briana Mathaw

MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave an update on the Moss Landing battery storage fire Wednesday.

They say that they have been finished de-linking the batteries since mid-March and are now ensuring the battery stabilization and packaging them for treatment or recycling.

They said they are now focused on battery removal and hope that starts around September 22.

An EPA spokesperson said during the Monterey County press briefing, that they will be starting to remove the batteries with the least amount of damage first, then the batteries with the higher rates of charge a few months later, likely to start in February 2026.

The EPA is currently continuing to demolish the damaged area, especially those spots with asbestosis in the walls, according to the EPA. This damaged material, they say, is headed to a factory in Vacaville and may be seen by neighbors via four-to-five truck loads per day.

The batteries to be removed and destroyed or recycled, according to the EPA, will be send to a company in Nevada called American Battery Technology Company. This, they say, will be done through two truck loads per day to make sure safety remains the priority.

The EPA says they will also be monitoring rain run-off water to collect and determine if there are levels of contaminates, and what those might be.

They say for further updates, to check out their website at epa.gov/ca/moss-landing-vistra-battery-fire

Moss Landing Battery removal set for September

MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KION-TV) – Eight months after the battery fire at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says cleanup efforts are progressing, though the thousands of damaged lithium-ion batteries remain on site for now.

“No batteries have been removed from the site. As I mentioned earlier, we expect that work to start in September. So batteries have been delinked, which was an initial step to cut down on the risk of further incident.” Kazami Brockman said.

Brockman, the On-Scene Coordinator for EPA Region 9, confirmed that while the formal cleanup agreement with facility operator Vistra was finalized in July, actual battery removal has yet to begin. In the meantime, crews have started stabilizing and partially deconstructing the building to gain safe access to the damaged units.

“The community can expect to see and may have already observed construction personnel, vehicles and equipment, including cranes arriving at the site. Just control and perimeter and community air monitoring measures are in place during all of these activities.” Kazami Brockman said.

Once battery removal begins, officials say they will be neutralized onsite to make them safe for transportation.

“Once the batteries are removed from the building, they will be inspected, treated or de-energized onsite in preparation for offsite transport and disposal.” Kazami Brockman said.

“We’re proceeding and it was first fashioned to address the batteries at higher status charge, presenting a higher risk. Damaged batteries can be unstable. And an emergency response plan was developed by Vistra and reviewed and approved by EPA for this response.” Kazami Brockman said.

According to Vistra, there are currently no plans to bring the Moss 300 battery facility back online until the investigation is complete and cleanup is finished.

“There’s no plans for a restart of Moss 300 facility until, you know, well after cleanup and all those pieces. And then the other, there are other projects on site, I think, as many are aware.” David Yeager said.

Yeager, the Director of Project Development at Vistra, also clarified that other operations at the site are still active.

“We do have a natural gas fuel unit on site that is active and does make power. So there are occasions where you might see steam coming from that asset, but that is not tied to any battery project at all.” David Yeager said.

As for what will happen to the batteries, disposal and recycling plans have not yet been finalized.

“The disposal and recycling facilities have not been finalized. However, we will have a priority on recycling as much as possible. Recycling involves reclaiming materials and metals from the batteries for reuse. And that would be happening offsite. We would be treating batteries onsite to ensure that they are safe for transport.” Kazami Brockman said.

The EPA says the cleanup process is expected to take over a year due to the technical challenges and safety concerns involved. Battery removal is set to begin in September if all goes as scheduled.

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jose.romo

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV) — Restaurants in Monterey are seeing a sales boost with tourists visiting for Car Week. Many workers in the restaurant industry see this as an opportunity, but have to work more hours to welcome the thousands of tourists that flow into the peninsula.

“Visitors that are here, you know they are visiting the 35-plus Car Week events, but they’re also discovering new places in the peninsula, in the county,” says Sandy Hurta with See Monterey. “It’s a great time for local businesses.” 

Wednesday morning, restaurant workers at Monterey’s El Torito worked hard to prep ahead of welcoming tourists and car enthusiasts during their busy times.

“We’re starting off the week with a 3% to 5% in sales. And that’s just because we are just starting the week, so we can only imagine how much it is going to increase for the weekend.  

Leslie Gallegos, Assistant Manager at El Torito, adds that their location has seen an increase in people calling in for reservations. She says usual wait times increase to roughly 30 to 45 minutes around 8:30 pm when car meets come to an end. 

“Es es más trabajo, incluso es más presión, más, más estrés,” Sous Chef Andres Perez says that with more clients, more preparation hours are needed. He says that stress builds up among kitchen staff, and he puts it upon himself to ensure the kitchen is a controlled chaos.

“We usually start hiring way before to get ready for this time, so when it comes to this time, we’re already ready,” adds Gallegos. “The preparation starts early in the week to get ready throughout the weekend. Since we make everything fresh, it’s a lot of work. But we are staffed up.” 

Car week is a highly anticipated event for the restaurant industry, and staff at this location share that they proactively hire between 15 to 20 people to assist with their increased sales. They say their biggest challenge, “we don’t have enough seating to take care of everyone, but it would be that our obstacles I wish we had more seating, even outdoor seating, and then our wait times, of course, when it gets busy.” 

Sandy with See Monterey adds that this week serves as a great padding for local businesses. 

“We see a lot of our hotels generating a lot of their income for the rest of the year during this time, and the same thing for the workers and local hospitality businesses. Sometimes, car week is that little push for the rest of the year,” Huerta adds. 

See Monterey adds that car week is of great help to the overall local economy. Since 1950, they say that the Concours d’elegance has generated $43 million for local non-profits and hospitals in the area.

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