Media

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday June 27, Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) introduced a bipartisan resolution designating July as "American Grown Flowers Month." Co-sponsored by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03), Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA-50), Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Rep. Don Young (AK-1), Rep. Jared Huffman (CA02), and Rep.

This year, the junior congressman for the 20th district, Jimmy Panetta provided the keynote address, one that inspired and touched upon his own family’s immigrant background.

SOUTH COUNTY — Central Coast school districts were awarded more than $28 million in Title 1 grants for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year, and several South Monterey County schools were included.

The announcement came from Congressman Jimmy Panetta.

"Title 1 funds are the backstop to ensure all students receive an equitable education across our Central Coast schools," Panetta said. "I am proud to represent a diverse region that values investments in our children to foster their future education."

California State University Monterey Bay is set to receive a $289,532 federal grant for its food and agricultural science programs.

According to a news release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Grants program will fund the grant. The grant is designed to boost enrollment for agriculture majors as well as add two agriculture degree programs, Food Safety and Plant and Soil Science, in partnership with Hartnell College.

The problems faced by growers in California are some of the same issues faced in places such as Florida and Georgia, Jimmy Panetta of California's 20th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives says.

"Coming from the specialty crop capital … the salad bowl of the world, Salinas Valley, you realize that we're not alone," Panetta says.

Congressman Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, rode in a convertible. “It’s good to be home,” the 20th District representative said. He said Congress is getting things done and that he had voted for a number of bills recently, including those to help military veterans.

Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, told his family’s story of immigration, how his grandfather left from Naples to sail across the Atlantic and arrived in Ellis Island in 1921. Eventually he made it to Monterey, where he ran a cafe that allowed him to purchase the land in Carmel Valley where his parents now live.

“We’re a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of risk-takers and I believe that’s what makes us exceptional,” he said. “You bring with you the best qualities of spirit of where you come from, but it’s that quality of willingness to take that risk, which is a quality that fills your history, that fills the history of this country and most importantly, determines the future.”