About The 831
When Local News Dies, Community Remembers
The 831 is independent journalism for California’s Central Coast. We’re not a corporation or an algorithm. We’re your neighbors: reporters, writers, and storytellers who refused to let fifty years of local accountability disappear without a fight.
When KION went dark in September after half a century of coverage, something essential was lost. Not just a news source, but proximity. Memory. The daily evidence that our community, messy and complicated and human, was worth witnessing.
The 831 was born from that silence.
Founded by the very people left behind, we’re a grassroots news collective covering Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito counties the way local journalism should feel: urgent, unpolished, and alive. We choose danger over decorum. Truth over comfort. Stories that make you feel something over stories that make you scroll.
We’re not algorithms. We’re people.
And we’re here to stay.
What We Cover
News & Accountability
City council decisions, housing debates, public safety, infrastructure plans, and the stories that shape how we live here. We follow the money, name the power, and hold institutions accountable.
Arts & Culture
Film festivals, local artists, theater, music, literary voices, and the creative resistance that keeps this place worth living in. Art isn’t decoration. It’s how we survive.
Environment & Science
Climate, coastline, weather patterns, wildfires, water policy, and the ecological reality of living on the edge of the Pacific. Science translated into human stakes.
Sports & Community
Surf culture, youth athletics, outdoor recreation, and the people who define the coast’s spirit. Humor, heart, and humanity in every dispatch.
Bilingual Reporting
Spanish-language coverage that honors the full linguistic landscape of the Central Coast. Accessibility isn’t optional. It’s essential.
Meet the Founders
The 831 was built by four journalists who refused to let local news die quietly. Former KION reporters, meteorologists, and community storytellers who turned loss into action.
Jeanette Bent guides editorial operations and multimedia storytelling, ensuring every story stays rooted in community.
Lee Solomon brings two decades of climate reporting to our environmental coverage, translating science into human stakes.
Neil Pearlberg chronicles the coast’s spirit through surf, sport, and the people who define this place.
Alisa Sieber leads Arts & Culture coverage, weaving essays and reviews that treat creativity as resistance.
Our Collective
Beyond the founders, The 831 is powered by a growing network of bilingual reporters, artists, and community correspondents who believe local journalism should feel like a conversation, not a broadcast.
Have a story to share? Know something we should cover? We’re always looking for contributors, tipsters, and community voices. Reach out. We’re listening.
Together, we’re documenting this place in real time: its creativity, contradictions, and courage. One story at a time.
Why Subscribe?
What you’ll get:
Breaking news and investigative reporting that holds power accountable
Cultural essays and arts coverage that treat creativity as resistance
Environmental and scientific reporting grounded in local impact
Bilingual storytelling that reflects the full linguistic landscape of the 831
Community voices, reader submissions, and grassroots dispatches
How often: We publish daily breaking news, weekly deep dives, and cultural essays as the stories demand. No filler. No clickbait. Just the stories that matter, told the way they deserve.
What it costs: Subscriptions are free, but paid support keeps us independent. We don’t answer to advertisers, investors, or corporate overlords. We answer to you.
When you subscribe, you’re not just getting news. You’re rebuilding the infrastructure of local accountability. You’re saying this place, and its stories, matter.
Join Us
Subscribe to get stories delivered straight to your inbox.
Share our work with neighbors, friends, and anyone who cares about this coast.
Contribute your own story, tip, or perspective. We want to hear from you.
Support our work with a paid subscription if you’re able. Every dollar keeps us free from corporate influence.
Contact & Connect
General inquiries: LocalNews@The831.info
Story tips: LocalNews@The831.info
Contributor inquiries: LocalNews@The831.info
The 831 is an independent, reader-supported publication. We receive no corporate funding, no venture capital, and no advertising revenue. Our only obligation is to the truth and to the community we serve.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for caring. Thank you for remembering that local news is how a community stays alive.
