Monthly Archives: November 2025

Electric Cars No Longer Get HOV Lane Passes

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Carpool lanes – I remember them being a way to reduce the number of cars coming into big cities and a bit of the reductions of exhaust.

no access

Bad news, electric vehicle owners. Starting Monday morning, one of California’s longest-running incentives for people to buy electric cars — a program that provided access to carpool lanes regardless of how many people are in a zero-emission vehicle — is coming to end.

The Clean Air Vehicle decal program expired Oct. 1, after Republican leaders in Congress and the Trump administration declined to reauthorize the federal law that allowed it.

Two months ago, the California Highway Patrol gave motorists across the state a 60-day grace period until Dec. 1. That’s Monday. The CHP says it will begin writing tickets for solo EV drivers who are in carpool lanes during restricted times from here on out.

Electric Cars No Longer Get HOV Lane Passes

McLaren Window Smasher Just Might Be Not Right In The Head

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But Samuel Shaffer is right enough to be released on OR?

Samuel Shaffer

The 31 year old Pacific Grove man accused of smashing the windshields of two expensive British sportscars in Carmel during Car Week may not be mentally fit to stand trial, according to a filing in Monterey County Superior Court, but Samuel Shaffer can remain out of custody on his own recognizance until the next hearing, which is scheduled for February 2026.

McLaren Window Smasher Just Might Be Not Right In The Head

Injected Artistry Inc Settles Penalty

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Remember Martha Vasquez that got 15 years for the death of a client?

Injected Artistry

The owners, Starr and Slovenski, on behalf of themselves and their corporate business, agreed to pay a total of $45,000 in civil penalties and costs to resolve this matter and are prohibited from making any false claims regarding their treatments and must ensure good-faith examinations are to the standards required under California law

Injected Artistry Inc Settles Penalty

Bamboo Reef Closes

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Seal Posse contributes to the fall of a business that’s been here since 1961.

Bamboo Reef

According to the company’s website, both the Monterey and San Francisco locations closed after 64 years in operation

“There’s a lot happening in the scuba world right now on the California coast,” says John Richardson, owner of Monterey Bay Scuba Diving, LLC, the parent company of Monterey Bay Scuba. Richardson observes a similar trend of shrinking in neighboring Santa Cruz County: “They went from four shops down to one-and-a-half in just the last five years.” Richardson says he is not sure why so many dive shops have recently gone out of business, but he thinks it may be due to oversaturation for low-populated beach communities. He adds that repeated beach closures due to thousands of sea lions congregating at San Carlos Beach in Monterey, a popular scuba spot, might have contributed to a local industry slowdown.

Bamboo Reef Closes

FPPC Complaint Filed Over Tina’s Vote

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Tina Big Jacket

 

A vote by Pacific Grove Councilmember Tina Rau in favor of pursuing a possible ordinance to raise the decibel levels at entertainment venues that sell alcohol is currently under investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, based on a complaint filed by three residents. Rau owns a building in downtown P.G. that houses the popular bar and music venue Pop & Hiss.

Rau says she reviewed her eligibility to participate in the vote with Mayor Nick Smith, City Manager Matt Mogensen and City Attorney Brian Pierik ahead of the meeting on March 19. Pierik informed her there was no conflict of interest.

Aside from Rau’s vote, the complaint filed on March 29 also includes concerns about the accuracy of the agenda report and asks whether all procedures were properly followed, among other concerns. It was filed by retired attorney Jane Haines, along with former mayor Carmelita Garcia and resident John Miller.

Councilmember Joe Amelio brought the proposed measure forward on March 19, asking the council to raise the allowable music decibel level from 70 decibels to 80. Rau was part of the four-member majority that voted in favor of asking Pierik to come back to the council with a proposed ordinance at a later date.

FPPC Complaint Filed Over Tina’s Vote

Since 1984 The Hyperbaric Chamber Saving Lives

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All volunteer operation seeking more volunteers. To apply fill out a form at the city’s website.

HyChamber

The chamber is essential for treating pressure-related issues, including decompression sickness, arterial gas embolism and high-altitude sickness. However, it’s also a life-saving tool in treating carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Director of the Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber Justin Cooper, who also works separately as a division chief for the Monterey Fire Department. As the cold weather sets in, more people are turning on their heaters. These pose a risk for carbon monoxide poisoning and Cooper urges residents to check that their heaters, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.

Since 1984 The Hyperbaric Chamber Saving Lives

Yesterday’s Rape Whistles Are Now ICE Whistles

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Because a stupid obstruction arrest can add honor to the anarchists.

“It doesn’t really matter the size of the city, because our whistles are very loud, and they can be heard up to two miles away,” says Megan Whilden, one of the organizers.

Jack Holmgren, a former immigration attorney and Carmel resident, spearheaded Whistlemania locally, saying a whistle is a tool people can use to alert others of ICE presence in real time. “It’s also a tool that can be used for nonviolent, civil disobedient resistance by the community that doesn’t have any concern about documentation,” Holmgren adds.

Over 70 volunteers showed up, including Monterey Mayor Tyller Williamson and County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew.

the choirboys

Spermwhale Whalen had sold the most whistles on the night-watch, six in fact. But actually he had bought them himself and given them to his favorite streetwalking whores with the instruction that if they ever had a slow evening and felt like giving away a free blowjob to an old pal just to pucker on the whistle when 7-A-l came cruising by.
There was not a recorded case of a radio car in the vast and crowded district ever hearing a distress whistle, but it was said that the whistle saved the property of one woman on La Cienega Boulevard when a purse snatcher almost fell to the sidewalk in a giggling fit at the sight of a sixty year old matron in a chinchilla coat blowing a little plastic whistle until her face looked like a rotten strawberry.
— Joseph Wambaugh, The Choirboys.

Yesterday’s Rape Whistles Are Now ICE Whistles

Watch Out Birds, They Are Counting You

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screaming gulls

“It is humbling to stand out there and just have birds everywhere, and realize that you’re the person that’s supposed to identify them and put them into numbers,” Vilag told Rodriguez.

In this story, Rodriguez brings us into her world, sharing what it’s like to prepare for such a job, which has her out at Point Pinos for six weeks, six days a week, from sunrise to sunset. She also shares what motivates her to do this job, and how she stays focused.

Watch Out Birds, They Are Counting You

Hit And Run, Vehicle Vs. Pedestrian

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Caught. Another Flock camera credit.

On November 13, 2025, at approximately 10:10 a.m., Monterey Police Officers responded to a reported hit-and-run collision near the intersection of Pacific Street and Scott Street. Witnesses described the involved vehicle as a white, four-door sedan.

Monterey detectives and officers continued searching for the driver. At approximately 2:40 p.m., they located the suspect at a business in the 300 block of Alvarado Street. He was identified as Jaishi Govinda, 24, of Salinas, California.

The investigation determined that Govinda had been driving west on Scott Street and turned south onto Pacific Street when he struck a pedestrian who was walking within the crosswalk on Pacific Street. After striking the victim, Govinda immediately fled the area. The victim sustained serious non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

Govinda was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Monterey County Jail on a violation of California Vehicle Code §20001 – Hit and Run Causing Injury. His bail was set at $10,000.

Hit And Run, Vehicle Vs. Pedestrian

Carmel High Investigates Threats Against PG Football Team

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PG has not won the shoe game in over ten years, did Carmel really need to carry this out?

The Carmel school district is looking into an allegation that one of its varsity football players offered to pay someone to injure a Pacific Grove player ahead of last week’s Shoe Game between the schools, the superintendent told The Pine Cone this week.
On Oct. 9, the mother of the P.G. High football player notified Carmel Unified Superintendent Sharon Ofek, head football coach Golden Anderson and principal Elizabeth Duethman of a social media post purportedly made by a Carmel High teenager offering “$80 to anyone who hurts” the P.G. teen.

Carmel High Investigates Threats Against PG Football Team