Author Archives: Admin

Pacific Grove Cares Free Offer Ignored

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But councilwoman Cynthia Garfield appears to be a fussbudget over “Weed Barriers” about the whole thing. And Chaps Poduri can’t figure out how much city staff time it will take for non-city staff.

The group’s proposal has the blessing of PG. Public Works director Daniel Gho and city manager Matt Mogensen, and it received unanimous approval from the city’s beautification and natural resources commission in January. Gibbs said Gho and  Mogensen have offered “encouragement, support and guidance” for the idea.
At the Feb. 19 council meeting, though, councilwoman Cynthia Garfield requested the item be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion. While Garfield said she was in favor of the idea, she wanted more detail on how much staff time might be spent on the projects.

“We’ve not had a full report on all the things that staff will be doing,” Garfield said
The councilwoman also pointed to unresolved “procedural things,” challenged the type of weed barrier proposed and questioned other aspects of the proposal In response, Gibbs said her group is not taking any city funds nor having city employees do any hands-on landscape work.

Pacific Grove Cares Free Offer Ignored

Fish Jail Workers Want To Unionize

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Aquarium Kalisas

Of course management is going to reject laying down for a labor union. Secret ballot is the best way.

About a month after union organizers sent a request for voluntary recognition of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers United (MBAWU) union, which would represent all non-management staff at the Aquarium, the request was denied by Aquarium management. Executive Director Julie Packard, who recently announced her retirement, sent a message to Aquarium employees stating: “We want to be sure we honor each of your voices… That’s why holding a secret ballot election is the best path forward.”

“Really what they’re doing is forcing workers to vote twice,” Anderson says. “I think a lot of our leaders were disappointed in management’s decision because the Monterey Bay Aquarium is such a stalwart supporter of ocean conservation and a leader on a lot of progressive fronts. We figured that they would also do the right thing and stand by their workers.”

Fish Jail Workers Want To Unionize

Suicide At P.G. Park

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An elderly woman from Monterey shot herself to death Tuesday in a Pacific Grove park, according to authorities.
Pacific Grove Police said that a passerby found the body of the 77-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, in Higgins Park at Forest and David avenues at
about 7:40 a.m. Police responded after getting a report of an “unconscious subject lying on the ground.” “When officers and firefighters arrived, they found a female subject suffering from a gunshot wound and unresponsive,” police said. “Paramedics declared the female subject deceased at the scene, and officers held the scene until the coroner arrived.”

Suicide At P.G. Park

Pickleball Racket Is Not What You Buy At Big-5

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It’s what neighbors get their ears filled with.

But the city is hopeful that a newly installed device will not only minimize the sound, but also the number of complaints.
It recently installed “sound fencing” on a portion of the courts’ chain link fence. The material is purported to attenuate the loud “whack” when players’ paddles strike
the hard plastic ball. Many say the activity’s repetitive sound is more noticeable — and more irritating — than tennis.

The sound fencing, manufactured by company Acoustiblok, and other work to the courts were estimated at $47,000

Pickleball Racket Is Not What You Buy At Big-5

Meetings Don’t Solve Fire Hazards

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Washington Park is a tinderbox of dead weeds and trees. But Dominick Sinicropi says leave it be. City spends $100,000 to have the effects of global warming on wildfire.

GW Park Fuel 3

The meeting will discuss “near future efforts to lessen the threats from wildfires in our wildland interface areas,” The meeting comes after concerns from residents about the amount of dead brush, trees and other fuel they say could help a wildfire move quickly through the roughly 20-acre George Washington Park and spread to nearby homes. At the Jan. 16 P.G. City Council meeting, resident Kevin Hanley told the council that fuel at the park should be thinned to prevent a “catastrophic fire.”

However, not everyone agrees, including monarch butterfly buff Dominick Sinicropi, who told The Pine Cone last month that “instead of blaming natural areas for devastating fires,” including the recent fires in Southern California that destroyed thousands of structures, P.G. should be prioritizing measures to reduce causes from people, including from “outdoor barbecues” and “overhead power
lines.”

Meetings Don’t Solve Fire Hazards

Layoffs At P.G. Schools

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Is it odd that no administration jobs are listed as potential cuts?

The jobs at the city’s two elementary schools that could be on the chopping block include four classroom teachers, which would save $511,904, a Spanish teacher for a $139,907 savings, and a mental health therapist, which would save the district $178,626. Other possible cuts include the loss of two mental health therapists at the middle and high schools for a combined savings of S363,443, and a technology support position for a savings of$148,305.

The district, which is experiencing declining enrollment, is also recommending is a 3 percent reduction of all materials and supplies, professional consulting services, and other cuts for a $131,847 savings.

Layoffs At P.G. Schools

New ATT Golf Format Equals Less Commerce

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Duh. The celebrities draw more crowds than people chasing white balls.

Welcome To Bings Pro Am

This year, the ATT Pro-Am did not boost local businesses as much as usual. Many owners attributed the decline to the absence of celebrities.

“Everybody would go out to see celebrities, Bill Murray, maybe you’ll catch your favorite actor or football player, Tom Brady but this year it really wasn’t like that and the vibe has changed a lot,” said John Culcasi, owner of Rosine’s.

The PGA Tour changed the ATT format last year and continued with it this year, making it an elevated event that attracted the world’s best golfers but no celebrities.

Some business owners said the lack of celebrities translated to a different crowd.

“The past two years it’s been a different crowd a lot more is golf-centered people they kind of go back to their hotels and they go out there early they don’t really go out like how it used to be,” said Culcasi.

New ATT Golf Format Equals Less Commerce

Daniel Howland Hall Sentenced To Prison

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For another P.G. domestic attack.

Judge Pamela Butler sentenced Daniel Howland Hall, 25, to four years and four months  behind bars after he pleaded no contest, which amounts to a guilty plea, to false imprisonment by violence when hephysically abused his girlfriend July 30, 2024, at the unidentified woman ‘s home in Pacific Grove.

“When Jane Doe separated herself from Hall, he went into her bedroom, took her phone away, and proceeded to hold her down and strangle her for approximately one minute,” the district attorney’s office explained this week.

At the time of last year’s crime against his girlfriend, Hall was on felony probation for kidnapping an ex-girlfriend, identified by prosecutors as Jane Doe 2, on June 30, 2023.

Daniel Howland Hall Sentenced To Prison

Riley Elvin Gets Prison

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Just 2 years.

Riley Elvin

Riley Elvin, 29, was arrested by Monterey Police Nov. 30, 2024, at El Estero Park in Monterey after he was caught fondling himself He was subsequently charged with lewd conduct, but prosecutors and Elvin’s attorney last month reached an agreement that allowed Elvin to plead guilty to violating his felony probation terms in exchange for dismissal of the misdemeanor lewd conduct case. He was on probation for threatening the school principal in November 2023 after trespassing onto school grounds.

Elvin’s criminal history in Monterey County goes back to 2014. A quick search of his name on the Monterey County Superior Court database shows five pages of cases (each page contains 10 cases), most of them criminal, that he’s been charged with in the last 11 years,

Riley Elvin Gets Prison

P.G. Hit And Run Suspect Caught

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This is what Flock cameras are for.

Icaro Fernandes Araujo

A Marina man who police say struck a 14-year-old boy with his car in Pacific Grove and fled the scene last weekend was arrested the next day, thanks to technology and several vigilant citizens.
Pacific Grove Police said that on Jan. 25 the teenager, a student at P.G. Middle School, was running southbound across Lighthouse Avenue at Alder Street when 36-year-old Toyota Prius driver Icaro Fernandes Araujo struck him and left the scene.

“The day after the accident, the suspect’s vehicle was seen driving through the City of Pacific Grove,” P.G. Police said. A citizen “got the suspect vehicle’s license plate  number and provided it to the police department.”

Investigators checked the city’s Flock camera system, which captures images of license plates of vehicles entering and leaving the city, and confirmed that a car with the same plate had been in P.G. around the time of the hit-and-run.

P.G. Hit And Run Suspect Caught