Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 315

College football: Ellison’s four touchdowns carry MPC past Gavilan

GILROY — If there had been any lingering concerns for Monterey Peninsula College in its run at perfection, it’s been a lack of urgency on the road.

In three previous road games this season, the Lobos have had to come from behind in each game — twice in the second half.

“It was fun to see us come together and have some big explosive plays early,” MPC coach Ronnie Palmer said. “It’s been a challenge on the road. Today we started off very fast.”

Palmer doesn’t show a lot of emotion and is cautious with his words. Yet, the bus ride home Saturday was one of relaxation, along with a week off to recharge the batteries.

The Lobos will go into their bye week 7-0 after using four touchdowns from Devin Ellison in a Saturday’s 64-13 pasting of Gavilan at Gilroy High.

Owners of three straight American Golden Coast Conference titles, the Lobos are 18-1 over the last four years in conference play.

MPC, who went into the game ranked No. 5 in the state in scoring, will likely climb a spot or two after producing 60 plus points for the second time this year — 72 in a win over Chabot.

“We had some great moments in all three phases of the game,” Palmer said. “We scored on all three phases, which is always fun.”

The Lobos, who suited up just 48 players for the game, will use the bye week to heel up for their final three games, starting with Hartnell in two weeks for the Presidents Cup.

“The top thing on our list during the bye is to get healthy,” Palmer said. “I like our 48. But it would be nice to get closer to 50. We’ve got some guys we hope to have back soon.”

Dating back to last year, MPC has won 12 straight regular season games and nine straight conference battles.

Ellison, who came into the game leading the state in touchdown catches with six, now has nine on the season after hauling in three against Gavilan.

“Devin had a day,” Palmer said. “He didn’t get many chances. But he did something with the ball when he had it in his hands.”

That includes an 88 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, his second of the season for MPC, who is averaging 39.2 points a game.

Eric Gibson tossed three touchdown passes for MPC, while Miekael Brooker had a scoring toss and rushed for a touchdown.

As explosive as the passing game has been, tailback Kieryus Boone quietly leads the state in rushing yards per game for MPC, going over the century mark for the sixth time the year.

“There are some phases of our game that we’re on point with our expectations,” Palmer said. “I think we have stayed true for the most part. I like our quality. But the nutrition part concerns me. I never thought I’d have an active roster of just 48 kids.”

And while the Lobos depth is being tested, there’s been little drop off with production on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

That was evident up front where Seaside graduate Taylor Rice made his first start, recording a sack in the first half.

For the fourth time this year, MPC held an opponent under 20 points, as Monterey grad Jaki Thomas returned an interception for a pick six.

The Lobos, who came into the game with 22 turnovers, have 18 interceptions this season as Maurice Mathis had his second pick in as many weeks.

Complacency is not a concern for Palmer, whose final three opponents are a combined 4-16 this season.

“These last three games are not tuneups for a bowl game,” Palmer said. “Every game is the next big game. That starts with our rival down Highway 68. I don’t put any stock into their Hartnell’s) record. I will miss seeing Matt Collins (retired Hartnell coach) screaming across the other side.”

Cabrillo 38, Hartnell 7: The Panthers are still seeking an idenity on offense, falling to 1-6 on the season after succumbing to rival Cabrillo.

Hartnell has failed to score 18 or more points in all six losses this year, with the seven points being a season low.

Rancho San Juan graduate Peyton Hatten went over 300 yards rushing on 34 carries for the second straight year for Cabrillo, scoring two touchdowns.

Qaiyon Prioleau’s 78-yard touchdown run with 1:25 left in the game kept the Panthers from being shutout.

Dominic Chavez threw for 237 yards for Hartnell, while former Soledad teammate Victor Ruano caught seven passes and Isiah Hernandez four.

Elijah Perkins, who had four interceptions in his last two games, led the Panthers with eight tackles, while Christopher Phillips finished with six.

Hartnell, who has a bye next week, will travel to rival MPC on Nov. 9.

Saturday High School football: Rutherford, Rees keep Carmel undefeated

CARMEL — No one has referred to it as unfinished business.

Yet, dampening last year’s 10-0 regular season for Carmel was a loss in the opening round of the playoffs to an eventual state high school football champion.

While the postseason is still three weeks away, and there are priorities in Carmel’s path over the next two weeks — including the annual ‘Shoe Game’ against Pacific Grove, the regular season has felt like a run at redemption.

“Last year was bitter sweet,” Carmel coach Golden Anderson said. “You tip your cap to losing to a state champion. We were proud of how we played. But we felt we let an opportunity slip away. We don’t hold grudges, But I know these guys have good memories.”

The Padres established a new school record for consecutive regular season wins Saturday with their 20th straight, deflating North Salinas 43-27.

“We weren’t tearing down the goal posts after the game,” Anderson said. “But it starts with standards and expectations. We’re always chasing perfection. The reality is you’re going to finish your season with a loss unless you don’t make the playoffs.”

Or you win a state title.

“We’re not even thinking about that right now,” Anderson said. “We have two more games to try and get better and win a league title.”

Anderson, who is in his 15th season as a head coach, has coaches on his staff that played at Carmel that remember the lean years when the program struggled to fill out a roster and compete.

“Some of the guys on this staff didn’t win anything,” said Anderson, a former quarterback at Carmel in the mid 1990’s. “It hasn’t always been like this. To see the pride in the alumni is what makes these kids feel proud of what they’ve accomplished.”

Billed as the battle of unbeatens in the Mission Division South, that is where the similarities ended as the Padres continued their reign on supremacy.

During its 20 game regular season winning streak, Carmel (8-0) has averaged 46.5 points a game — one of the highest scoring totals in the state over that same time frame.

“There’s a core that have been up here for three years,” Anderson said. “With this being senior day, it was a little emotional. We don’t know if we’ll get another game on campus.”

The Padres last scheduled home game is against Pacific Grove, which will be played at Monterey Peninsula College. Because of its lack of seating on the visiting side at Carmel, any playoff game that it’s slated to host will likely be moved to MPC or another venue in the area.

“Lets just get through the next two games,” Anderson said. “The good news is we clinched a playoff spot today.”

The Padres dropped 14 points on North Salinas before it had settled in and built a 37-6 halftime lead on the strength of quarterback Hudson Rutherford.

The senior tossed three touchdown passes, connecting with Ty Arnold on scoring tosses of 75 and 15 yards, while finding Simeon Brown for six.

Ashton Rees found the end zone three more times, returning a punt 77 yards for six, while lining up in the backfield out of the ‘wildcat’ for a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Rees has rushed for 28 touchdowns in his last 19 games for Carmel, while Rutherford has 20 touchdown passes this fall.

“I think we were a little shell shocked in the first half,” North Salinas coach Ben Ceradle said. “That took over. The message at halftime was why can’t we do what they do? What do we have left inside? How are we going to finish this game?”

Starring at a 29-point halftime deficit, the Vikings played with nothing to lose in the third quarter, outscoring Carmel 21-0.

Quarterback Izaiah Gonzales had two of his three touchdown runs in the third quarter, while Jason Valencia blocked a punt and returned it 30 yards for six, getting North Salinas to within nine points.

“We got some confidence with that blocked punt,” Ceralde said. “It was more like we’re not going to give up. These are building blocks going forward. I don’t know if they (Carmel) even practice punting.”

The Padres, though, regrouped, controlling the fourth quarter and added an insurance touchdown in taking a step closer to repeating as Mission Division South champions.

“We had some adversity in the third quarter,” said Anderson, who is one win away from a 10th league title in 15 years. “I was proud of how we responded.”

North Salinas can clinch the No. 2 spot and automatic playoff spot out the Mission Division South with a win next Saturday afternoon against Soledad on its campus.

Gonzales 28, Pajaro Valley 13: During the week, head coach Eddy Ramirez reminded his players that there are still goals for Gonzales to achieve, milestones to be met.

While a league title is likely on hold for another year, the Spartans are still in the running for their first winning season in five years after knocking off Pajaro Valley.

“If we close the season by winning our final two games, we will have our first winning season since the pandemic,” Ramirez said.

Having taken the reigns of the program after Gonzales went 18 months without playing football during the pandemic, the road back has had its share of barriers.

Yet, wins over Marina and Harbor in their final two games will enable the Spartans to improve in the win column for a fourth consecutive season.

“All year I’ve said any team, any place, any time,” said Ramirez, in reference to Gonzales not having a home field this year.

With renovations continue on their stadium and field, the Spartans have played home games at Soledad, Alisal and MPC, with their final game targeted for Salinas High.

“I just told the kids after last week’s loss to San Lorenzo Valley lets win as many as we can,” Ramirez said.

Starring at a 6-0 deficit in the first half, Gonzales ran off the games next 28 points, with Tony Garcia scoring two touchdowns, one being a 78-yard scoring strike from Ray Blanco.

“We came out and made a lot of bad mistakes in the first quarter,” Ramirez said. “I told them lets focus on winning our reps, one play at a time.”

A blocked punt gave the Spartans a short field in the third quarter, where Juan Luis Arriola capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

A play that has been in Ramirez’s playbook all year was unleashed in the fourth quarter when he called for a fake punt, in which lineman Jacob Hernandez tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Barragan.

Hernandez, who starts at center for Gonzales, is considered the Spartans third quarterback.

“He’s a quarterback in a lineman’s body,” Ramirez said. “He has a real good arm. He is just not going to outrun anyone. But in a pinch, he could be our quarterback.”

Gonzales will visit Marina at Seaside High next Friday, the first time in Santa Lucia Divisional play that it will play a Friday night game this year.

Trinity 40, Anzar 26: Eli Robertson accounted for five touchdowns, and added three picks on defense as the Warriors erupted for a season high in points.

Robertson accounted for 265 yards in total offense, adding a rushing touchdown for Trinity, who improved to 3-4 on the season.

Daniel Dirkes threw for 236 yards and five touchdowns, connecting with Robertson four times and Brady Ramones for six.

Ramones had a monster game on defense with a career high 15 tackles, while Dirkes deflected a pair of passes.

Trinity will close the season next Friday at Harker of Sunnyvale.

Marina 49, Harbor 36: After scoring just 74 points in their first six games, the Mariners have produced 98 points in their last two games.

This time Marina made 49 points stand up in knocking off the Pirates for its first Santa Lucia Division win, improving to 2-6 overall on the season.

Donovan Mabane, who set a school record for rushing yards last week with a PCAL best 322 yards, had touchdown runs of 75 and 45 yards for Marina.

Raju David added two more touchdown runs for the Mariners, while Denzel Garvin rushed for a touchdown and was on the receiving end of a Elan Espinosa touchdown pass.

Espinosa added a touchdown pass to Caleb True, who was a demon on defense with a pick on Harbor’s ensuing series, leading to another Marina touchdown and a 42-22 cushion in the fourth.

DIMES: The tale of two extensions for the Golden State Warriors

Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA

It was the best of times for Moses Moody, but it might be the worst of times for Jonathan Kuminga.

Moody got paid, inking a three-year, $39 million extension with the Warriors. Golden State rewarded him for being an excellent teammate, producing when given opportunities, and working hard this summer to improve.

It’s a great haul for Moody, who got life-changing money even while he’s bounced in and out of the rotation.

Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody, left, shoots over Sacramento Kings forward Jalen McDaniels (7) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)

Moody and his agent, Rich Paul, read the market and noticed that the NBA’s middle class is shrinking, even as the money overall keeps increasing. Even if he got a consistent role and produced to his ability, that midlevel contract probably wouldn’t be waiting for him as a restricted free agent.

Jaden Hardy, who has probably proven more as a scorer in Dallas, signed an extension for $20 million less than Moody. Last year, Nickeil Alexander-Walker inked a two-year, $9 million deal. Ayo Dosunmu got 3/21. Talen Horton-Tucker signed a non-guaranteed, one-year contract.

Even for young players with upside like Moody, the money isn’t there for bench wings anymore.

Then there’s Kuminga, who is saying the right things after not getting an extension done. There was never a substantial negotiation between the Warriors and Kuminga, with Golden State prioritizing in-season flexibility and wanting to see more from the former seventh overall pick. It didn’t make sense for the Warriors to offer him the market rate of at least $30 million per year, and it didn’t make sense for Kuminga to take anything less.

Kuminga has the talent, but fit is everything in the NBA. His fit with the Warriors has never been squeaky-clean, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change. It’s not going to be easy for Kuminga to prove he’s a $200 million player in Golden State’s context.

The Warriors don’t have the frontcourt spacing to create driving lanes for Kuminga. He’s starting in a lineup that puts him at his preferred position of small forward even as he’s been most productive as a pro at the four.

The best way for Kuminga to excel this year, and thereby cash in, is for him to become the player the Warriors coaching staff has been trying to summon since he stepped into the league: a tenacious on-ball defender and consistent rebounder. He has the tools to do so. If he can layer those skills on top of his otherworldly athleticism and downhill ability, he’d become unassailable.

Getting that type of play out of Kuminga has been easier said than done.

The good news for Kuminga is that five teams are projected to have at least $30 million in cap space next summer, with several others having the ability to maneuver into that range.

Someone’s going to back up the Brinks truck for Kuminga (and the Warriors will have the right to match). But by threading the needle, the Warriors introduced more variables for Kuminga in a point of his career where it should be simple. By not having the kind of security Moody got, the spotlight on Kuminga gets dialed up.

The 3-point math

The Boston Celtics put up 61 and 45 3-pointers in their first two games. So much for the Warriors leading the league in 3-point attempts.

Another lost year for Wiseman

James Wiseman tore his Achilles in the Pacers’ season opener, likely knocking him out for the year.

It’s a bummer for the former Warrior, who will now have missed two entire seasons since getting drafted second overall in 2020. At the end of this season, he’ll have played in 148 of 410 possible games.

The whistles

Fouls called per game are back up to 22, an increase over last year’s 18.7. Teams are taking over five foul shots per game more compared to last season.

On Friday, the 76ers and Raptors combined for 99 foul shots. It was a mess.

In the second half of last season, the officials famously stopped calling touch fouls, limiting baiters. It created a better game aesthetically and stabilized what would have been an outrageous scoring boom.

It’s still too early to make grand conclusions, but the trend is something to monitor.

First week overreactions

* With a fixed jumper, Jayson Tatum could make a legitimate MVP run — and his Celtics have a chance to join the 2016 Warriors as one of three 70-win teams.* That 2025 Clippers pick heading to the Thunder is going to get real juicy.* Jordan Poole is back.* Dare I say it…Is this the year LaMelo Ball figures it out?* The Orlando Magic are the Celtics’ biggest threat in the East. Wait, what?

If the Warriors really got ‘Oklahoma Buddy’ Hield, look out

After the Warriors’ season-opening blowout win over Portland, Buddy Hield took a moment to reflect on what it’s like to be a Warrior. To play alongside Steph Curry, who he has studied closely since he was a kid. To play within the system he’s admired from afar for years.

“I don’t want to bring it up,” Hield said, “But the last time I was free like this was in Oklahoma. Guys always playing for me, passing the ball and trying to get me open. It was fun, I’m not going to lie.”

The admission must be startling to the rest of the 29 teams in the league. At Oklahoma, Hield was a phenomenon. The consensus National Player of the Year as a senior, he lit up overmatched teenagers on a nightly basis with his unmatched range and unending movement.

So far, it’s not hyperbole to say that guy is here in Golden State.

Hield led the Warriors with 22 points on opening night. A game later, he poured in a game-high 27 points, drilling seven of his nine 3-pointers. In his first 35 minutes as a Warrior, he has registered 49 points.

“It looks like Buddy from Oklahoma again,” Draymond Green said after Hield’s encore performance in Utah.

If the Warriors can bottle up Oklahoma Buddy and pour him out over 20 minutes per game, they’ll have one of the most lethal bench weapons in the league. Nobody shoots it like Hield, who leads the NBA in 3-point makes since 2019. And nobody, except Steph Curry, runs quite like Hield, who draws defensive attention by sprinting his lanes and constantly running off screens.

The Warriors had an idea of what it was getting when it acquired Hield in the six-team trade that sent Klay Thompson to Dallas. But they never could have known they’d get this version of Hield, and they didn’t know how quickly he’d acclimate himself in the Warriors’ veteran locker room.

Already, even as the new guy, Hield has brought a contagious energy to the team. He livens up shootarounds, organizes team dinners, cracks up his teammates on the bench and has embodied the unselfishness Steve Kerr is asking of his team.

“That’s exactly what he was at Oklahoma,” Hield’s college coach, Lon Kruger, told this news organization. “Extremely positive. High energy level every day. Came to practice with great enthusiasm. Super influence on his teammates. As enjoyable of a guy to coach as we’ve ever had, because he was all about winning as a team and helping his teammates and team get better every day.”

In college, Hield would compete with his roommate, Isaiah Cousins, to see who could get to the gym first every morning. Even when the accolades started rolling in, Hield never let the stardom get to him, Kruger said. The kid from the Bahamas stayed confident, but humble.

As a senior, Hield averaged 25 points per game while shooting 45.7% from 3. His 147 3-point makes that season approached Curry’s single-season record from Davidson (162).

The only current Warrior to witness the Oklahoma Buddy phenomenon in the moment was Kevon Looney. Early in the 2014 season, Looney’s UCLA visited Atlantis for a non-conference matchup with the Sooners. It was a home game for Hield, and he showed out.

“He kicked our ass,” Looney told this news organization. “That was like his coming out party.”

Looney had heard rumblings of the guy from the Bahamas before the game, but didn’t know who Hield was. He wasn’t a highly touted recruit — growing up in the Bahamas and doing a prep year in Oklahoma — and started his college career with two forgettable seasons.

The Bruins center quickly got introduced to Hield, who led the Sooners to a 75-65 win by giving NBA-caliber defenders like Norman Powell the business. Hield scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, including 10 points during a sizzling, 90-second flurry that sealed the Sooners’ win.

“He was doing the same thing he’s doing now,” said Looney, who had 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for UCLA. “He was shooting it from everywhere. Always moving without the ball. He was kind of doing the same thing he’s doing now. His shot-making was incredible in college. Really tough to stop.”

Those same things Looney referred to were omnipresent in Golden State’s first two games — a historically dominant opening. Hield flew off flare screens. He worked the two-man game with Curry. He launched a contested 30-footer off a jump ball. He drilled corner 3s like they were layups. He ran the floor hard, forcing backpedaling defenses to either commit to him on the 3-point arc or give up driving lanes to the rim.

Against Utah on Friday night, Hield also flashed an expanded floor game, registering six assists and four rebounds. Two of his dimes were beauties — one behind-the-head kickout to Andrew Wiggins for 3 and a left-handed hook pass to Curry on the wing for another triple.

Hield has been working on the latter since he was a kid. His coaches growing up would scold him for attempting it, but after years of honing the skill and building strength, he can execute the difficult pass.

“I got it from (Curry), watching him, low-key,” Hield said.

Hield has hit 12 of his 16 3-point attempts to start the year. Even he isn’t going to hit 75% of his treys for the entire season, but his impact in the role previously occupied by Thompson looks sustainable.

Hield’s 22.5 plus-minus ranks fourth in the NBA through two games. In the 24 minutes Hield and Curry have shared the court, the Warriors have outscored opponents by 79.3 points per 100 possessions — the best two-man combination on the team.

When Hield says the Warriors feels like Oklahoma, he’s thinking about how fast the ball moves. He’s thinking about how his teammates seek him out on the perimeter, and how he returns the favor. How everyone puts their egos aside to play the right way, falling in line behind Curry, Green and Kerr.

Not everything orbits around him like it did in Norman. But Golden State’s style of play is just as empowering.

“You don’t have to press so much,” Hield said. “You just know guys are sacrificing and being unselfish. When you’re on teams like that, good things always come. I know my teammates look at me to shoot the ball, but I look for them too. It’s just organic.”

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Hield has had to press in the past. Even as he’s rained 3s — hitting at least 200 in six straight seasons — he has bounced around from New Orleans to Sacramento to Indiana to Philadelphia.

But now, it seems pretty clear that he has found a home.

“Buddy’s just someone whose vibe is just different every day,” center Trayce Jackson-Davis said. “Loves being here, loves coming to work. He’s going to get out and run and shoot the 3. It’s probably the best situation for him, because all he has to do is run and shoot. We love him, glad he’s on our team.”

Liza Horvath, Senior Advocate: Estate planning updates and highlights

Readers: It is my goal to share important information and situations that could affect us when it comes to our financial and estate planning. I believe we share the mutual goal of making sure that what happens when we “go” is what we wanted and intended. I recently attended a week-long seminar on tax and estate planning and wanted to share some of the highlights with the hope that you will be better prepared when considering your own situation.

Homeowner’s Property Tax Exemption: Nearly one-third of California homeowners do not sign up for the Homeowner’s Exemption resulting in more than $30 million in extra tax payments by roughly 435,000 households. The exemption, when filed, can reduce the assessed value of your home, for property tax purposes, by a maximum of $7,000. While it is true you may only see your property tax go down by some $70 or so, over time this can add up to considerable savings on taxes.

Maybe more importantly, if you plan to leave your home to a child, a homeowner’s exemption must be in place when you die so your child can take advantage of Proposition 19 – which can result in significant reductions in their year-to-year property tax.

More information along with the forms to file for an exemption can be obtained by calling the Monterey County Assessor’s Office at (831)755-5035.

Pretermitted Heir: When we prepare our wills or trusts, it is essential to name all children we have – whether they are born out of wedlock, during marriage, or if they are stepchildren. Along with naming them, we need to state clearly how each will be treated regarding an inheritance from our estate. Should we fail to acknowledge a child in our documents, that child is considered a pretermitted heir, which means we knew about them but just didn’t name them.

In a recent case, a stepchild made a claim to his stepfather’s. In this case, the father failed to make a will and so his estate was probated by way of intestate succession (when you die without a will). Normally, the estate would go to the father’s wife, if any, and then to his children.

The stepchild filed a claim to the stepfather’s estate and, because  a relationship existed between them when the stepchild was a minor and because a “natural child/parent relationship” existed, the stepchild was allowed to inherit from the stepfather’s estate.

First lesson, make sure you prepare a will or trust and, second, name your heirs and whether you want to give them something or you want them to get nothing.

Probate Attorney Fees: If you are named as an executor, never allow the attorney working for you to take their fees before the court has approved those fees! In probate, set statutory fees will be paid to the attorney and to you for your work as executor. These fees need to be approved by the court and only then can they be paid.

In the case reviewed at the seminar, an attorney took his statutory fees during the probate with the permission of the executor. The State Bar suspended the attorney’s license for 15 months. Moreover, the executor in a situation like this can be removed. Most attorneys are well aware of this issue but, if you find yourself acting as an executor, be aware that you could be removed (without being paid for your work) if you pay your attorney without court approval.

Arbitration and the Advance Health Care Agent: Say you are mom’s health care agent named under an Advance Health Care Directive. Mom needs more help and support and you both decide to move Mom to a health care facility. Invariably, health care facilities will ask you, as the agent, to agree to arbitration should any issues arise with the facility. Do not sign the arbitration agreement. Arbitration is a financial decision, not a health care decision and you should not agree. You should also know that not agreeing to arbitration cannot be grounds for the facility to deny admission.

This arbitration issue with health care facilities seems to come up year after year in the courts so I am sure we will hear more about it in the future!

Liza Horvath has over 30 years of experience in the estate planning and trust fields and is the president of Monterey Trust Management, a financial and trust Management Company. This is not intended to be legal or tax advice. If you have a question call (831)646-5262 or email liza@montereytrust.com

More toll hikes proposed for Bay Area bridges

Getting around the Bay Area by bridge is expected to keep getting more expensive.

Drivers crossing the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges could face several increases over the next five years — up to $11.50 for some users by 2030.

The Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday proposed initially raising tolls for FasTrak drivers to $8.50 starting in January 2026 to cross the Bay, Antioch, Benicia, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo bridges. FasTrak users would then see an increase to $9 in 2027, $9.50 in 2028, $10 in 2029, and $10.50 in 2030. Tolls could be even higher for those without transponders.

[image error]Tolls are already rising from $7 to $8 on Jan. 1 for FasTrak users, a previously announced decision.

The Golden Gate Bridge isn’t included in the proposal as it is run by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. Tolls on the iconic span were raised from $8.75 to $9.25 in July for FasTrak users and are projected to climb even higher as post-pandemic traffic continues to lag.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which manages the state-owned bridge system, says the toll hikes are needed to pay for maintenance, rehabilitation and operation of the state-run bridges. The proposed toll hike would raise about $60 million the first year and about $300 million annually when tolls go up $2.50 in 2030.

MTC officials say the hikes are also aimed at encouraging more customers to pay electronically with FasTrak toll readers. The toll readers have a lower administrative cost than payment through a license plate account or returning a payment with an invoice through the mail.

About 10 million drivers pass through a toll plaza on one of the seven bridges every month, but a 10% reduction in bridge users since the pandemic has also played a part in the proposed toll hikes.

“Even before the pandemic we knew that we would have to do a toll increase for maintenance: paint, structural preservation, all kinds of things,” said MTC spokesperson John Goodwin, adding that an initial hike wasn’t expected until 2027, but the pandemic accelerated the need for more incoming cash.

Goodwin said those who will be impacted the most are the daily bridge users, but that is a low number. According to MTC data from last October, just 3% of all bridge users crossed a span daily.

“I’m sensitive to the overall cost of living in the Bay Area,” Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, who also serves as chair of both the transportation commission and the toll authority, said in a statement. “Working families really feel the impact, not just in transportation but back at home with utilities, groceries, children. This one is hard. But it’s the right thing to do.”

The current proposed toll hike is separate from the $3 increase approved by Bay Area voters in 2018 through Regional Measure 3 to pay for highway and transit improvements around the region. The first of the three $1 toll increases went into effect in 2019, followed by another in 2022. The last of those toll hikes goes into effect in January, bringing the toll for cars and trucks to $8.

The toll authority and the MTC are asking the public to weigh in on the proposed toll increase during a comment period that begins Nov. 4 and ends at 5 p.m. Dec. 3. Comments can be sent by email to info@bayareametro.gov.

Authorities will also host a public webinar on Nov. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to present more details about the proposed toll hikes. A public hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 20 in San Francisco is scheduled to hear testimony about the toll hike proposal.

From eucalyptus removal to prescribed burns, Monterey Bay area climate change projects launched

MOSS LANDING >> A suite of local climate change adaptation projects launched this month thanks to a recent infusion of $71.1 million in federal funds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the monumental grant — part of the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge funded by the Inflation Reduction Act — for wildfire and flood risk prevention, regional collaboration and workforce development across the Monterey Bay area.

Locally, the Esselen Tribe will lead prescribed burns, Elkhorn Slough Foundation will expand eucalyptus removal and other groups will reduce vegetation fuels on the Mitteldorf and Santa Lucia Preserves. Several collaborators will also spearhead flood prevention efforts around the Salinas River, Carmel River and the Elkhorn Slough. To engage youth in the funded fire and flood projects, Cal State Monterey Bay received $2 million for paid undergraduate internships, teacher assistant positions and scholarships.

Cal State Monterey Bay. (David Kellogg — Monterey Herald)

“We’re thrilled,” said Gerick Bergsma, assistant professor of marine science and faculty advisor for the newly expanded science internship program. “We pride ourselves in experiential learning, but a lot of students are limited by finances. Being able to fund internships and professional experience is fantastic and allows us to be a lot more equitable.”

These educational opportunities, beginning as soon as next spring, will focus on giving students the technical skills necessary to contribute to the funded adaptation work. Watsonville Wetlands Watch, Hartnell College and the University of California, Santa Cruz, also received monies for workforce training.

Local officials and environmental leaders celebrated the award of the highly competitive federal funds to California Marine Sanctuary Foundation — the lead applicant — and its many collaborators recently in Moss Landing. After being notified this summer of the five-year grant, around 30 regional partners kicked off their funded work on Oct. 1.

“The Monterey Bay region will become a model for how communities can adapt to climate change by empowering local talents and fostering the skills necessary for future resilience projects,” Robert Mazurek, the foundation’s executive director, said at the launch event.  “This project is not just about protecting our coastline and watersheds. It is about protecting the heart of our communities and ensuring a future where every resident can thrive despite a changing climate.”

The grant is also one of the largest for a nonprofit in California’s history, he noted.

Across Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, the winning projects focus on low-lying, disadvantaged communities that face the threat of wildfires and of flooding from sea level rise and from major local rivers – San Lorenzo, Pajaro, Salinas and Carmel. Flood risk reduction is the largest piece of the grant, with over $40 million awarded to 10 projects. Five wildfire reduction projects together received nearly $11 million. Another significant chunk of the grant, around $9 million, went to existing collaboratives plus to the establishment of a new adaptation revolving fund and Monterey Bay Climate Adaptation Action Network. The network, which will coordinate implementation and planning, has two liaisons devoted to collaboration with the eight local tribes and others focused on engagement with marginalized communities.

Nearly $7 million is earmarked for workforce development. Mazurek emphasized that, over five years, the funds will create 15 full-time jobs, 270 part-time jobs and over 350 paid internships.

“For me, personally having read a lot of the proposals, their workforce development is inspiring,” Becky Smyth, who is the West Coast director of NOAA’s coastal management office, told The Herald. “It really is about giving all the workforce, from the people doing the work in wetlands to the students who will go into academia, the ability to be part of the solution.”

The notable collaboration and breadth of the programs also stood out to Smyth.

With NOAA funds, the Esselen Tribe plans to conduct burns on Basin Ranch, much like the one pictured above. (Hannah Hagemann – Santa Cruz Sentinel archive)

With NOAA funds, the Esselen Tribe plans to conduct burns on Basin Ranch. The tribe — in partnership with the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association and Big Sur Land Trust — is working to build wildfire resistance on the land through fire, a cultural practice, while also protecting culturally significant flora. Fires will also burn at Glen Deven Ranch.

In northern Monterey County, Elkhorn Slough Foundation and the Monterey conservation district will buffer 700 homes in Las Lomas, Elkhorn and Prunedale by removing about 40 acres of invasive, blue gum eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus can easily torch, sending flying embers miles to light spot fires. The partners will fell trees, treat the stumps so they don’t regrow and process the wood into biochar. The foundation began eucalyptus removal in 2018.

Separate, additional fuel load reduction projects are planned for the Santa Lucia and Mitteldorf Preserves, led by Santa Lucia Conservancy and Big Sur Land Trust respectively.

Monterey will also host significant flood risk prevention efforts. The Monterey district plans to expand its work along the Salinas River with the help of property owners, growers and municipalities across 100 miles from San Ardo to Highway 1. The property owners will do the work on the ground, while the grant funds the district’s ecological oversight. Together, they will remove invasive reeds and put in 50 acres of new secondary channels for the Salinas River to absorb high flows during storms — thus decreasing pressure on levees and reducing the risk of flooding onto nearby farmlands. A second flood reduction project, involving Coastal Conservation & Research and other partners, targets Salinas River Lagoon and old Salinas River.

Meanwhile, the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is making its first major investment in the northern portion of the estuary, the Pelican Marsh complex, to protect public access and critical transportation corridors from rising seas. The project will draw plans for future restoration.

The County of Monterey and Big Sur Land Trust is pursuing a large project to redirect flood waters from the Carmel River, which has historically inundated nearby residences, to Carmel Lagoon.

A car evacuates Paso Hondo Road as the Carmel River flood waters rise in Carmel Valley. (David Royal — Herald file)

Other essential projects take place in Santa Cruz County, including the restoration of wetlands and floodplains that could mitigate future flooding in Pajaro.

“We’re all so grateful that the community foundation was willing to take this on,” Paul Robins, who directs the Monterey conservation district, said of the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation. “This work has really inclusive, broad engagement in terms of different types of groups and communities… and also reflects the expanding collaborative of organizations that’s been exciting to see building over the past 15 years I’ve worked in Monterey County.”

After 20 years at the top of chess, Magnus Carlsen is making his next move

By MARK LEWIS

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen’s celebrity status.

A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway’s Carlsen a household name.

Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity.

Only legends like Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player. Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation’s greatest ever.

But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport.

“I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don’t necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.”

FILE – Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, left, of SG Alpine Warriors plays against Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Chingari Gulf Titans during Global Chess League in Dubai United Arab Emirates, on July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says.

Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November’s World Chess Championship tournament between China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won’t be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023.

Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website.

Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it. “That will come later, maybe with advertisements or deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.

While Take Take Take offers a different prospect with its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded market with Chess.com, which has more than 100 million users, YouTube, Twitch, and the website of FIDE the International Chess Federation. World Chess was worth around $54 million when it got listed on the London Stock Exchange.

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The accessibility of chess engines that can beat any human means cheating has never been easier. However, they can still be used to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would be impossible against human opponents.

“I think the games today are of higher quality because preparation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping us play. It is reshaping the way we evaluate the games,” especially for the new generation of players, says Carlsen.

At the same time, he admits that two decades after becoming a grand master, his mind doesn’t quite compute at the tornado speed it once did. “Most people have less energy when they get older. The brain gets slower. I have already felt that for a few years. The younger players’ processing power is just faster.”

Even so, he intends to be the world’s best for many years to come.

“My mind is a bit slower, and I maybe don’t have as much energy. But chess is about the coming together of energy, computing power and experience. I am still closer to my peak than decline,” he said.

Chess has been cresting a popularity wave begun by Carlsen himself.

He became the world’s top-ranked player in 2011. In 2013, he won the first of his five World Championships. In 2014, he achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882, and he has remained the undisputed world number one for the last 13 years.

Off the table, chess influencers, like the world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are using social media to bring the game to a wider audience. The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ unlikely cerebral sex appeal when it became one of the streamer’s biggest hits in 2020.

And in 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American grand master, who admitted to using technology to cheat in online games in the past, created a rare edge in the usually sedate world of chess. There is no evidence Niemann ever cheated in live games but the feud between the pair propelled the game even further into public consciousness.

Whether chess can continue to grow without the full professional participation of its biggest celebrity remains to be seen.

Orange and black — and pink and purple. Some twists for creative Halloween parties

By KIM COOK

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” says the heroine in L.M. Montgomery’s book “Anne of Green Gables.”

All we autumn aficionados feel the same, right? The season usually takes its star turn in October, with peak leaves, sweater-worthy days, and the heady aromas of spice, apples, pumpkin and woodfire.

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And for many people, stirring Halloween into that mix just makes it yummier.

Throwing your own Halloween party is a great outlet for getting creative with the season, and it doesn’t have to be all monsters and mayhem (though that’s fun). There are themes that bring a party mood and style to the table and the room, while still evoking Halloween’s mystery.

You don’t need to go all out on a home full of décor. I do a simple mantelscape in my living room that’s just a few décor pieces in autumn colors, a string of festive lights and a banner with a seasonal message. The vibe’s just enough Halloween for me, and when it’s over I can easily edit the elements for Thanksgiving.

Some party and decor trends:

Whimsigoth and pinkowe’en

Claire Brito, House Beautiful’s social media editor, says she’s seeing people leaning into a flirtier, more feminine interpretation of the darker goth aesthetic.

It’s a nod to pop culture’s TV witches of the ’90s — Buffy, Sabrina, et al — and to the lifestyle vibe of cottagecore with its boho, natural, nostalgic vibe. Brought together, you’ve got “whimsigoth.” The look leans into moody purples and dusty pinks as well as vintage florals and plaids.

This photo provided by Olive & Cocoa shows a pink skeleton in an entryway. ‘Whimsigoth’, and ‘pinkowe’en’ are two of this year’s hot Halloween holiday décor trends. (Olive & Cocoa via AP)

Another seasonal decor look with a goofy nickname: Say boo! to decor’s “pinkowe’en.”

Brito says it echoes the trends of biophilia and the Year of Pink, with blush-toned pumpkins, lacy tableware and mismatched glassware. Adding indoor plants inside Mason jars and making stacks of books will create an “old greenhouse” and “romantic library” mood – both ideal for a Halloween gathering.

Macabre mysteries

House Beautiful’s deputy managing editor, Olivia Hosken, likes a good old-fashioned murder mystery, and recommends games that get everyone teamed up.

Masters of Mystery’s game kits set the crime in different eras and environments — among them, the Wild West, Broadway, a palace, a pirate ship and the 1920s. There are also mysteries themed around “Bridgerton,” “Rocky Horror,” James Bond or outer space.

The game maker suggests how to set the scene for your murder mystery, including décor, menus, music and costumes.

For the Roaring Twenties, for instance, use a black-and-gold color scheme, with cocktail glasses filled with gold beads, strands of pearls, and black feathers for decorative elements. Era-popular deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail and icebox cake could be on the menu.

Victorian vibes

Author Lesley Bannatyne, who writes often about Halloween, says it was the Victorians who began turning Halloween into a celebration. Jack-o’-lanterns on porches, blazing community bonfires, and doors hung with cornhusks and apples welcomed guests to the party.

Queen Victoria’s obsession with the supernatural fed a fascination with mystics and fortune tellers.

This image provided by Joni Cohen shows a white Capiz skull and pumpkins handmade using pearl shells. East Coast designer Joanna Buchanan suggests creating ‘a dark and stormy table by candlelight.’ (John Bessler/Joni Cohen via AP)

Try creating a 19th century look for your Halloween party. Think tarot cards, palmistry, astrology and astronomy art; glass jars filled with curiosities like toy critters, paper butterflies, silk flowers; black or gold painted twigs; cobwebs made of chunky yarn or cheesecloth.

Get the family candlesticks out, and set them with black taper candles.

“Light them an hour before the party starts, so they’re extra drippy,” Hosken says.

Add dark purple or deep red flowers, and Spanish moss. When the party’s over, most of these items can be repurposed.

Toasting time

Some bottles ideal for the Halloween party table:

19 Crimes is an Aussie brand named for the number of crimes it took for 18th century British convicts to be shipped off to Australia. The wines are named after colorful real-life rebels, with vintage photos on the labels. Scan the QR code on the back of the bottle to watch an augmented reality clip of the character’s story.

This photo provided by The Prisoner Wine Company shows a bottle from their ‘Unshackled’ line of reds and roses, with metallic labels evoking a vintage combination lock. (Prisoner Wine Co via AP)

And California’s The Prisoner Wine Company has released an “Unshackled” line of reds and rose, with metallic labels evoking a vintage combination lock.

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The Associated Press. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

Two historic Philadelphia churches offer lessons for an America divided today and in its infancy

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — George Washington. Benjamin Franklin. Betsy Ross. The two Founding Fathers and the seamstress of the American flag all once worshipped on the now centuries-old wooden pews of Christ Church.

It’s the site of colonial America’s break with the Church of England — and where the U.S. Episcopal Church was born.

Less than a mile south, past Independence Hall, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church stands on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by Black Americans. It’s the mother church of the nation’s first Black denomination.

Two churches, across the centuries. Generations after their birth in this nation first envisioned in Philadelphia, both churches continue to serve as the spiritual home for hundreds in the city.

Choir members sing hymns at Christ Church in Philadelphia at a service on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Church members see the role of their congregation as crucial, a beacon ahead of a contentious presidential election in Pennsylvania — the most pivotal of swing states. They also express concerns about political division that the Founding Fathers once feared could tear the nation apart.

“We’ve grown as a nation, but I think at this point, we’re at a standstill. We’re terribly divided,” said Christ Church parishioner Jeanette Morris. A registered Republican, she previously voted for former President Donald Trump, but plans to back Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5 because of her support for reproductive rights. Morris is concerned about health issues following the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

“Nothing is getting done in Washington because nobody can agree on anything,” she said after a recent service. “I pray every Sunday that we can get past this all.”

Mother Bethel AME Church member Donna Matthews, center standing, claps next to her husband, Keith Matthews, during a service in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Today’s list of divisive issues is long: from abortion and immigration to taxes, climate change and the wars abroad. It’s also the first presidential election since an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, an act of political violence steeped in the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

“I think things have changed: Slavery is abolished. The Civil Rights Act was put in place. But still, deep down, the denizens of the United States haven’t really come together,” says Keith Matthews, 61, a Mother Bethel AME parishioner. “There’s still a lot of hatred and misunderstanding amongst the races.”

The nation’s church was at the center of it all

At its infancy, the United States of America also was deeply divided. And some members of Christ Church — from Washington to the parish rector — seemed to be at the center of it all.

“What we’re going through right now is certainly unprecedented politically. And there’s a huge amount of potential instability and concern that a lot of people have in this church and the United States,” says Zack Biro, executive director of the Christ Church Preservation Trust. “And Christ Church is a perfect example of kind of weathering that storm.”

The Christ Church steeple, financed and built through a lottery spearheaded by Benjamin Franklin, rises into the sky in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

The church was founded in 1695 by a group of Philadelphia colonists as the first parish of the Church of England in Pennsylvania. Congregants later included slaves and their owners, loyalists and patriots. They listened to sermons favoring and opposing independence.

Anglican clergy loyal to the British king led weekly prayers for the monarch. But on July 4, 1776, Christ Church’s vestry crossed out the king’s name from the Book of Common Prayer — a defiant act of potential treason. The book is preserved today in an underground museum, a testament to the church’s revolutionary spirit on Independence Day.

“We tend to think that the early American republic was a time of great unity, but, like today, the political culture was deeply polarized,” says John Fea, a professor of American history at Messiah University in Pennsylvania.

Christ Church congregants sing during a service in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

During the 1780s, Fea said via email, debate raged about how to apply revolutionary-era principles such as liberty or freedom to all Americans. From the pulpit, the Rev. Jacob Duché, the church’s rector, was seen as a moderate and led prayers as the first chaplain of the Continental Congress. But then he sided with the loyalists.

When the British occupied Philadelphia in 1777, the rector wrote a letter to Washington urging him to surrender and reach a deal with the British. After the letter became public, Duché traveled to England. Pennsylvania officials later labeled him a traitor and banned his reentry. His successor, the Rev. William White, became the first presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. He’s praised for keeping the unity of his congregation during times of turmoil.

Christ Church’s current senior pastor is the Rev. Samantha Vincent-Alexander, the first woman to serve as rector in its more than 300-year history.

“The idea of what do we do in this political environment right now and how do we deal with that is an incredible challenge,” she says. “Most of our congregations are not a unified voting bloc. They represent different people much like at the time of the American revolution.”

“We had people who were loyalists and people who supported independence, and the clergy at the time had to find a way to keep the congregation together.”

Congregant Andy Halstead prays during a service at Philadelphia’s Christ Church on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Congregants remain proud of Christ Church’s crucial role in America’s freedom. But they also grapple with contradictions. Some church members traded slaves and are buried in the church yard near signers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin’s tomb is in the nearby Christ Church burial ground.

“While we’re very proud of our history, these people were not perfect. Sometimes we tend to think of them that way, but they weren’t,” says Harvey Bartle, a congregant for more than 30 years. “What they were doing is trying to promote democracy. … At least they advanced the ball beyond the divine right of kings, so that the society, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, could advance the system.”

Children look at the penny-covered gravestone of Benjamin Franklin at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

One church member, Absalom Jones, attended services at a sister congregation while enslaved to a man serving in the church leadership. Jones bought his freedom and eventually became ordained by the Christ Church rector as the first Black priest of the Episcopal Church. He also went on to co-create the Free African Society of Philadelphia, which Fea says “sought to apply the rights secured from the American Revolution to the 2,000 or so free Black men and women living in the city at the time.”

Methodism was the fastest growing denomination in America in the 1790s. But some Methodist Episcopal Churches still segregated Black worshippers during services to the upstairs galleries. This prompted free Black Americans to start their own congregation.

A framed portrait of the Rev. Absalom Jones, who became ordained as the first Black priest of the Episcopal church, is displayed at the Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)Mother Bethel AME fought for freedom from the start

The African Methodist Episcopal Church has been involved in the struggle for freedom and equality from its roots.

Its founder, the Rev. Richard Allen, was born into slavery in Philadelphia in 1760 before buying his freedom in Delaware before he was 20. He returned to the city in the 1780s and became a minister.

After white leaders at a Methodist church segregated Allen, Jones and other Black worshippers to the upstairs galleries for a prayer service, the group left the church and formed what would eventually become Mother Bethel AME. The church became a place of refuge for Black people fleeing slavery along the Underground Railroad and later a major gathering point for the Civil Rights Movement.

By creating Mother Bethel, Allen “carved out a space where Black people could resist … at a time where during slavery in the Deep South, Black people could not even congregate without the presence of a white man in between them,” says Bethel AME’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Tyler.

Today, the AME Church has more than 2.5 million members and thousands of congregations in dozens of nations worldwide.

A statue of Mother Bethel AME Church founder stands on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by Black Americans in Philadelphia on Oct 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

“Certainly, we’ve made progress,” says Tyler, citing Kamala Harris’ campaign to become the country’s first Black female president. But he also believes that much more needs to be done to bridge America’s racial inequality and he worries about the potential of another Trump presidency. The AME Church, he says, has not “outlived its usefulness.”

“The fact that we have a person who openly embraces white supremacists, who has been president once and potentially could be president again in the 21st century, is all the evidence that you need to know that we still need places for Black people to come together and organize like the Black Church,” he says.

During a recent Sunday service, Tyler encouraged his congregation to vote. Some members later reflected on America’s beginnings and its progress and shortcomings.

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“Two things can be said at the same time: They were brilliant in the development of this nation. But they still carried slavery ideas, women were not allowed to vote, and that needed to be changed,” parishioner Donna Matthews said about the Founding Fathers.

“Who are ‘We the people’? I think people need to ask themselves that,” said Matthews, 63, who attended the service with her husband, Keith, and their young grandson, Ezekiel. “It’s everyone. And it’s the essence of why this church was started.”

At the end of the service, parishioner Tayza Hill, 25, led groups on a tour of the church’s museum. It preserves an original wooden pulpit used by the Rev. Allen and Black leaders including abolitionist Frederick Douglass and civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois when they addressed the congregation.

Hill says she has been hearing the same question in radio shows as the election approaches: “Is the sun rising, or is the sun setting on democracy?” She remains hopeful and believes the continuity of her church is vital.

“Seeing that there’s still a building that has the history and is continuously being told is important because it’s refusing to be erased from history,” Hill says. “As a nation and as a church, it’s really up to us to defend the rights and the respectability of those who are withheld the full opportunity of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.