Test results at Lake San Antonio in southern Monterey County suggested the culprit in a massive fish die-off that closed the lake may have been an algae bloom spurred by high heat that depleted the oxygen in the water and suffocated the fish.

After reports surfaced of a massive die-off of small fish around July 5 when temperatures climbed to 114 degrees at the lake, and then spread to larger fish in the following days, the recreation area was closed to the public July 10. The continued die-off prompted the Environmental Health Bureau to issue a “precautionary measure directive” to the Monterey County Parks Division to keep the public from boating, fishing and swimming in the lake.

Officials later determined there was no threat to public health and reopened the lake.

“The fish die-off seemed to cease around July 12,” said Chief of Parks Bryan Flores. “Unfortunately the test data that came back and our investigations, we’re not able to have a conclusive result of why the die-off occurred but the prevailing thought is that … an algae bloom occurred.”

During the ensuing cleanup, staff saw other live fish swimming. Other wildlife such as turkey vultures, pelicans, wild pigs and raccoons, were eating the dead fish which helped with the cleanup. The cause of the die-off did not affect the animals that dined on the carcasses of the fish.

Marni Flagg, assistant bureau chief of the Environmental Health Department, said the financial impact of the closure was more than $100,000 due to having to cancel two normally packed weekends for visitors.

Hide and seek

Monterey Police found themselves in an unpleasant game of hide and seek when they tried to apprehend Leslie Flores July 3-4. Flores had 14 active warrants at the time, four of which were felonies. The police set up a perimeter around the house Flores was present at and pursued him as he ran out the backdoor. But Flores then climbed a tree and went back in the house through a window. Over the next several hours, the special response unit used loudspeakers to talk to Flores and inform him that he was under arrest and to exit the residence. After several hours of not receiving a response, the special response unit breached the front door and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Drone team used their indoor drones to help clear the residence. Officers eventually located Flores hiding in a 6-foot hole under the floorboards of one of the rooms.

Rosine dies

Rosine Culcasi, co-founder of Rosine’s, the popular restaurant on Alvarado Street in Monterey died at age 85. Rosine’s opened in 1980 in Del Monte Center and later moved to Alvarado, a dream of Rosine and her husband, Jim Sr. Today, the restaurant is a staple in Monterey, offering large portions that include their signature desserts. Rosine retired in 1991 to allow her children to take over more of the business, but she always loved to cook and continued to do so for many more years.

“When she retired, she wasn’t ready to retire,” Jim Culcasi said. “She would come in every Tuesday for meatloaf and baked all her pies on Fridays. People would line up around the corner on Fridays for those pies. She made the best pie crust. You could pop a piece into your mouth and it would just melt. To this day it’s something I haven’t mastered yet.”

Honors for the Herald

In July it was announced that the Monterey Herald was honored in several categories of the 2023 California Journalism Awards, including a second-place finish in General Excellence. The annual awards are sponsored by the California Newspaper Publisher’s Association, a nonprofit trade association representing more than 400 newspapers, including daily, weekly, monthly and campus publications. Herald reporters garnered honors in several individual categories among daily newspapers with a circulation of 15,000 and under.

Molly Gibbs’ story, “Carmel High’s challenge: Overcoming a troubled past” won the Investigative Reporting category. Gibbs also won second for Best Writing for her story “Along for the ride at the Concours d’Elegance.”

Tess Kenny and Dennis Taylor were honored for their joint effort in the Agricultural Reporting category, taking second place with their story “Monterey County agriculture: Flooding is watering down the bottom line” about the economic impact of the 2023 floods.

Kenny also took third in the In-Depth Reporting category with her story “Faces of the Flood: Out of work, afraid and overlooked.” The story profiled several farmworkers and ag laborers impacted by storms in January and March.