Monthly Archives: April 2011

Two Teen Divers Drown Off Cannery Row

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First reported diver death this year.

Two teenagers drowned Saturday while scuba diving in Monterey Bay.

The divers were reported missing after others in their group surfaced and returned to their charter boat, the Monterey Express.

“Nineteen divers went down, two were reported missing,” said Felix Colello, a division chief for the Monterey Fire Department.

They were reported missing about 12:25 p.m.

“The two gentlemen were found on the bottom of the ocean,” Colello said. “They were brought up in cardiac arrest. We did CPR all the way to the hospital.”

The teens, 16 and 17 years old from Carson City, Nev., were pronounced dead at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.


Two Teen Divers Drown Off Cannery Row

More Hearings For Deborah King

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Give it up and take what you get.

For the fifth time since she drove into a Pacific Grove father killing him in front of his son, a judge has appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate the mental competency of Deborah King.

Defense attorney Heather Rogers told Judge Russell Scott this morning she can’t move forward with a motion for a new trial because she doubts her client’s ability to assist in her own defense.

A jury convicted King in February of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of 35-year-old Joel Woods, who was struck and killed outside Pacific Grove Middle School on Sept. 2, 2008. Because she has five prior drunken-driving convictions, one resulting in a prison term, the former correctional officer faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

More Hearings For Deborah King (Contra Costa Times)

Dead Woman Found Was Daughter Of Local Restaurant Owner

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Whaling Station

A 41-year-old Monterey woman whose body was discovered Thursday morning in Los Padres National Forest was the daughter of local celebrity chef John Pisto, according to a Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Tawni Neikirk’s body was found on a private rural road off near the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy at about 10:50 a.m., sheriff’s Cmdr. Mike Richards said.

Dead Woman Found Was Daughter Of Local Restaurant Owner (KTVU News)

Canterbury Woods Wins In Property Use Dispute

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NIMBYs on Spazier lose that one.

Canterbury Woods

Citing common sense, a judge Thursday settled a long-running dispute between the city of Pacific Grove and Canterbury Woods, ruling three off-site cottages owned by the retirement community did not violate residential zoning laws.

Judge Tom Wills said residents who lived in the homes did not use them in a manner that differed from their neighbors on Spazier Avenue and 19th Street.

“I really think it turns on whether it’s a commercial use,” he said after listening to lengthy arguments from both sides, “and based on the way the ordinance is drafted and to some extent the historical treatment of these properties, and just common sense, I don’t consider these to be commercial uses.”

Canterbury Woods Wins In Property Use Dispute

Man Overboard At Bird Rock

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Check the gas tank before setting out.

Stephen Tregea found himself in cold, roiling water off the Pebble Beach shoreline Wednesday after his boat ran out of fuel, capsized and broke apart n the surf. Wearing a life vest, the 47-year-old made it to shore near Bird Rock on his own but was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment of hypothermia, according to authorities.

“He was just out there fishing, and then he ran out of fuel, and his boat capsized,” said Cal Fire firefighter Brandon Phillips, who responded to the emergency call at around 1:30 p.m. April 6 with the crew from he Pebble Beach fire station.

Man Overboard At Bird Rock

Man Overboard In Pebble Beach

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The monument must have got him.

A 47-year-old man was recovering Wednesday after he was tossed into the ocean off Pebble Beach near Bird Rock, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The unidentified man was in a small boat by himself when the boat lost power and he began drifting toward shore in rough surf conditions.

He ended up in the water after his boat is believed to have either capsized or broken up against rock formations in the surf, deputies reported. He was in the water for approximately 10 minutes before making his way to the beach near a scenic turnout off of 17 Mile Drive.

Man Overboard In Pebble Beach

Sam Farr & Our Military Bases

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What? Sam The Sham would do all he could to eliminate the armed services from his district so he can come up with more reuse committees.

A bipartisan congressional caucus focusing on civilian neighbors of military installations is being formed with Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, and Kansas Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins as co-chairmen.

Farr credited creation of the House Defense Communities Caucus to Monterey City Manager Fred Meurer and Fort Ord Reuse Authority Executive Officer Michael Houlemard’s work on dealing with Fort Ord’s closure in 1993 and the subsequent forging of agreements between the remaining military posts and the city of Monterey for municipal services.

Man Trapping Cats In P.G.

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He thought they were feral strays. Right.

The man trapping cats and turning them in may have run afoul of a Pacific Grove ordinance prohibiting the trapping of domestic cats, said Elizabeth Yeo, city animal control officer. His case has been referred to City Attorney David Laredo for review.

The law does not allow domestic cats to be trapped, but does allow trapping of feral cats by the city if authorities are notified first, Yeo said.

She said the trapper in this case did not appear to be acting maliciously, thought he was trapping feral cats, and was unaware of the municipal ordinance.

Man Trapping Cats In P.G.

Cash Strapped City To Outsource Police

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Tourist business is down, voters rejected a sales tax boost, and lawsuits have cost the city precious funds. What city? Oh, it’s Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay is disbanding its 12-member police force and the city will contract its services to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. City officials chose the sheriff’s office over the Pacifica police department on Saturday, Mayor Naomi Patridge said in an email.

The city is following the lead of nearby San Carlos, which eliminated its police department six months ago and is using the San Mateo County sheriff.

Cash Strapped City To Outsource Police

Nader Agha And Dave Potter Settle

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Loan or campaign contribution. Either way it’s money given to politicians to do what for the giver?

Attorneys for both men announced a quiet settlement Friday of a lawsuit Agha filed in April 2010 that accused Potter of misusing a $10,000 campaign contribution Agha said Potter solicited from him in January 2004.

In a one-sentence statement, the attorneys said the dispute “has been resolved to the satisfaction” of Potter, Agha and Russ Carter, a business associate of Potter, who Agha claimed was the intermediary for the alleged campaign contribution.

Nader Agha And Dave Potter Settle