Country Club Gate Tobacco Shop Heist

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Country Club Gate is always a hot spot for crime. Merchants that have a lot of valuables need to install cages over the windows and doors just like Seaside. Too bad P.G. can’t keep enough police on the beats – I mean there’s more DEI matters than criminal investigations there.

Due to staffing constraints, police explained they cannot maintain constant contact with victims of property crimes.

They canvassed the area for surveillance footage, including from nearby Lucky’s and local flock cameras, but were unable to identify any suspect vehicles.

The store owner is reconsidering future business investments in Pacific Grove, stating, “But after this, that’s kind of demotivated me. You know why I’m going to bring my investment here and add more to the city where my assets are not safe. A lot of my business is not safe at all.”

Other nearby businesses are also concerned about the safety of Pacific Grove, with one local business owner, George Daoud, saying, “Mean, this is P.G., couldn’t be any safer than that. That’s I mean, we pay prime price for safety here. We do pay for that. So we’re not seeing it, and we’re not feeling safe around here.”

Country Club Gate Tobacco Shop Heist

La Nina Is fading As El Nino appears

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Climate changes with the golf season.
El Nino

Looking ahead, the latest data shows most of California, especially the southern part, trending toward drier and warmer weather than normal through April. After a very dry January, this week did welcome some rain, however.

Once La Nina fades out, it’s probably only a matter of time before the opposite weather phenomenon of El Nino develops. Already, there’s an up to 60% chance that El Nino will form later this summer, according to the Climate Prediction Center’s latest forecast. Although this general guideline may be outdated, El Nino tends to bring wetter winter conditions to California.

La Nina Is fading As El Nino appears

P.G. Looking (finally) Into Laws Regarding Electric Bicycles

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I remember getting hollered at by the tam o’shanter wearing cyclist when my children and I were an inch from the pavement as he sped by.

Easiest way to enforce safety would be to ticket any bike rider riding on the sidewalk. And as long as we are at it, make helmets mandatory for all bikes, motorized or not.

Bike path speed

During the council meeting Wednesday, the council discussed existing city code and how it applies to e-bikes, bicycles and other devices on the coastal recreational trail, in parks and in other public spaces. The discussion focused on enforcement challenges, safety concerns and whether current regulations reflect current usage.

Currently, e-bikes are now allowed in Perkins’ Park, Lovers Point Park, Pacific Grove Golf Links, El Carmelo Cemetery, and the property ocean-side of Ocean View Boulevard to 17th Street. The exception is on the paved portion of the recreational trail.

P.G. Looking (finally) Into Laws Regarding Electric Bicycles

Drones Banned In P.G.

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Councilman Poduri wanted the long awaited ATC Hotel property exempt. Maybe this disguise can skirt the law:

The vote did not come without some bargaining after Councilmember Chaps Poduri demanded the future American Tin Cannery luxury hotel project be specifically excluded from the ordinance.

Poduri told the council that he did not want any more potential conditions placed on the project, located on the Pacific Grove/Monterey border, just around the corner from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and not far from the harbor seal pupping beach near Hopkins Marine Station.

He held his ground, refusing to vote for the ordinance as is, and although the other councilmembers argued that it concerned recreational drones only, not commercial, Poduri refused to budge.

Drones Banned In P.G.

P.G. Bike Safety To Be Enforced

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First, we need some cops to fill the vacancies.

PG911 Bike Patrol

“E-bike concerns and safety have been a priority of our Police Department for some time now, especially concerning our youth,” said Mogensen in a separate email.

A Public Records Act request with the city found that in the three-year span from Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2025, police issued zero citations for the municipal codes related to e-bike regulations. KSBW reached out to the police department for comment, but a representative from the department said they would not comment ahead of the city council meeting.

A review of the 2024 Annual Report produced by the police department, the most recent one available at the time of publication, showed that the police department had four vacancies, or 17%, for sworn staff. The report said one goal for the following years was to increase bicycle patrols.

P.G. Bike Safety To Be Enforced

Another P.G. School Worker Arrested For Sexual Assault On Student

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Has there been some kind of trend with perverted P.G. teachers?

Marquis Pickrom

Marquis Pickrom

Marquis Pickrom, a former girls’ basketball coach at Pacific Grove High School and campus supervisor, was arrested by Pacific Grove police over the weekend and booked into the Monterey County Jail on Sunday for sexual assault of a minor under 18 and annoying or molesting a child.

The victim is a student at Pacific Grove High School.

Between August 2023 and October 2025, the victim, who was 16 to 18 years old at the time, reported being groomed by Pickrom, saying he “gave her special attention” and “made personal and romantic comments.”

In July 2025, the police say he kissed the victim and sexually touched her.

Another P.G. School Worker Arrested For Sexual Assault On Student

CSUMB Prof Assaults Student At P.G. Middle School

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Social Sciences, eh?

PGMS J Woods Flowers

A man was arrested on suspicion of battery after witnesses saw him knock a hat off a student’s head in front of Pacific Grove Middle School as children were being let out for the day.

On Jan. 15 at about 2:05 p.m., Frederik Vermote, 44, of Marina, confronted a P.G. Middle School student “for throwing books on the ground that came from a free library
box located in the front lawn of the school,” police Cmdr Brian Anderson told The Pine Cone last week. “During the confrontation, Vermote struck the child,” who was not injured

Vermote is listed as an associate professor of social sciences and global studies at Cal State Monterey Bay. Police did not specify Vermote’s relationship to the student. On Jan. 23, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office charged Vermote with  misdemeanor battery, claiming he used “force and violence upon John Doe while on school property.’

CSUMB Prof Assaults Student At P.G. Middle School

Tina Rau Gets Fines For Not Filing

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The Pacific Grove myth of a good ol’ boys council is alive and well.

Tina Big Jacket

City Councilwoman Tina Rau — who is under investigation by a state agency for an alleged conflict of interest — was fined last year by the same regulator for failing to disclose her financial investments, as elected officials are required to do, according to documents obtained by The Pine Cone.
The Fair Political Practices Commission concluded in May 2025 that Rau failed to report her ownership of a commercial building on Forest Avenue that houses music venue Pop & Hiss and more than $ 100,000 in annual rental income from the business, her $1 million-plus home on 19th Street, a $100,000 loan, and other financial interests.

Tina Rau Gets Fines For Not Filing

More Parks Go To The Dogs

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Kind of goes with the change of come-heres that have dogs instead of children. Arnett Park is the baseball field behind Arkwright Court.

No Barking

On Jan. 22, four members of the city’s recreation board voted to endorse the concept of a dog park. The panel listened to numerous proponents who envision Arnett Park, just off David near the Lucky supermarket, as its location. “I think all of us agree a dog park would be wonderful, and we would all benefit from it,” P.G. recreation board chair Jay Tulley said before the vote.

More Parks Go To The Dogs

Public Pooper Pinched In P.G.

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Country Club Gate, keeping it trashy.

Police said they were dispatched to the Rite Aid at Country Club Gate Center to conduct a welfare check on a man in the area. When they arrived, they found the man defecating in the street. He was identified as Jodie W. Moore, 64, a transient. Police conducted a records check and said he had an active felony warrant for failure to appear out of Monterey County, as well as six misdemeanor warrants for other alleged offenses throughout the county.

Public Pooper Pinched In P.G.