Turn That @#%$ Down! Part 4

Killer got 30 days. Be careful with the volume control.

It all began nearly a year ago when the manager of a Milton trailer park responded to complaints of loud music around 1 a.m. An altercation ensued that ended with Wolcott charged with the manslaughter of 51-year-old Scott Montie.

Developments over the next year would turn the case on its head, and according to Wolcott’s lawyer, point the finger at the victim instead.

“He was attacked. He tried to restrain Mr. Montie and initiated the phone call to the police. Unexpectedly, Mr. Montie was in distress by the time police arrived.”

He later passed away after being held in a headlock by Wolcott. An autopsy showed Montie had pre-existing medical conditions and was drunk.

A grand jury returned the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. A plea deal was then struck with the DA’s office.

“They wanted to see that the defendant accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty to a felony and that was achieved in this case,” DA Karen Heggen said.

Montie’s wife had a change of heart about the brief jail time asking for a tougher sentence that would never come to be.

He has agreed to pay about $9,000 in restitution to cover the cost of Montie’s funeral

Turn That @#%$ Down! Part 4
[KRON]

Starbucks Opens In Country Club Gate

Soon one on every street!

We Are Close

It was in 1995 that the town adopted a ban on any additional “formula fast food” establishments in the city. The coffee chain store was “grandfathered in” and will occupy two-thirds of the property at Country Club Gate where McDonald’s used to reside. It still isn’t clear what business will occupy the remainder of the building there.

Starbucks Opens In Country Club Gate

Seals Not Having A Peaceful Place To Birth Pups

Maybe all the nosy Seal Posse people are scaring them off

Volunteers with Baynet are reporting people disturbing the animals at the Hopkins Beach Rookery in an off limits area.

The animals are very skittish and will flee the beach if spooked by human activity.

“Right now we’ve got some pretty delicate situations among the harbor seals, there are a lot of pregnancies,” said Thom Akeman with Baynet.

The fear is people on the beach will scare mom off of the beach, either before delivery or after, leaving her separated from baby.

Akeman said it has already happened twice this year.

“We had two seal pups born over the weekend in rocks, while that is normal for harbor seals, that is not normal for this colony,” he said.

The harbor seals at Hopkins Beach usually deliver pups in the sand where it is easier and more protected. Akeman thinks these two moms may have been scared off the beach by people.

Seals Not Having A Peaceful Place To Birth Pups

Pink Magic Carpet Fighting With Yellow Oxalis

So Harvey says hire a maintenance person on an $80K “grant”.

Magic Carpet 2011

City Manager Ben Harvey informed City Council on Wednesday night that in recent years the Drosanthemum floribundum or “magic carpet” as it is sometimes called, is being infiltrated by yellow oxalis.

“It’s something that there just isn’t enough labor available to maintain in its prestigious condition all the time,” said Mayor Bill Kampe. “The oxalis is something very deeply embedded – in truth no amount of manual weeding will eliminate it and we’re going to have to consider using appropriate herbicides – but otherwise the oxalis will be finished by the time the magic carpet blooms.”

In light of the $80,000 in grant funds for the replacement and addition of recycling receptacles throughout the city and landscaping needs around Ocean View Boulevard and the Recreation Trail, Harvey has requested bringing on a half-time maintenance person to monitor the area.

Pink Magic Carpet Fighting With Yellow Oxalis

Solar Not Substainable

Never put any trust in operations where government handouts are the first source of funding.

Sungevity is laying off workers, auctioning off some assets, and agreeing to hand over control investors in exchange for $20 million in financing to keep the company’s operations going.

Sungevity was one of seven residential solar power companies, which Congress announced in September it would formally investigate for wrongfully receiving billions in tax credits from the government. The federal government likely handed out roughly $25 billion in cash grants and tax credits to these companies.

Another solar company called Beamreach went bust in January after it received $3 million in Department of Energy funding in 2008. The major solar company SunEdison also recently declared bankruptcy. Roughly five major solar companies closed up shop in 2015, which follows the historic tendency that solar power companies tend to go bankrupt as soon as the subsidies are cut off.

Solar Not Substainable

Morrie Fisher Passes

The Mayor with a badge no longer making hookups in Carmel. And his free golf privileges are officially off.

Mayor Badge

Morrie Fisher, the former Pacific Grove mayor known for his role in developing the Asilomar Beach trail and instituting the town’s Fourth of July picnic celebration and Christmas tree lighting ceremony, died Monday. He was 79.

As a resident and active member of Pacific Grove for most of his life, Mr. Fisher served two terms as mayor from 1986 to 1990 and from 2002 to 2004. Besides his mayoral role, he also sat on the city council for four terms.

Morrie Fisher Passes

No More Pet Pigs In P.G.

What about chickens? I’m Pro Chicken and I Vote!

Specifically, the proposed ordinance would amend municipal code to prohibit what are deemed “non-household animals” within the city and would clarify the responsibility by pet owners to keep and feed their animals in a way that “maintains a safe and healthy environment for residents, visitors and animals.” According to city officials, the revisions were needed to clarify permitting requirements, allocate responsibilities for feeding and harboring animals and streamlining the process for enforcement of policy related to animals within city limits.

“It clarifies what is allowed and what isn’t allowed,” said City Manager Ben Harvey, who said that barnyard farm animals would no longer be allowed.

No More Pet Pigs In P.G.

Protest Park Gets Kiddie Attractions

Something for kids to do while grown ups hold flags and picket signs. Don’t go there when it’s dark though.

A new climbing structure resembling a humpback whale has been installed between the volleyball courts at Window  on the Bay waterfront park. A starfish located adjacent to the whale is also part of the citywide Neighborhood Improvement Project approved last April and designed to give children, ages 2 to 10, a structure to play on.

“They’re all designed as climbing structures,” said Marcuzzo. “But it’s probably going to become a photo opp too.”

Protest Park Gets Kiddie Attractions

Project Bella Is Still Planned – Pinky Promise

The city extended the application, however, because officials kept thinking plans were on their way, Brodeur says.

There was reason to believe that might be the case. Just a couple of weeks before the May expiration date, Domaine and its supporters in Friends of Project Bella scored a major win in a special election election to change the American Tin Cannery’s zoning from retail to hotel.

However, months later there were signs of trouble within the Pacific Grove company, which is owned by Domaine Hospitality Partners, LLC. One of the DHP partners, Michael Crall, resigned his position as development director in November, publicly raising questions about Meer’s management of Project Bella.

At a Jan. 11 City Council meeting, Armanasco told the council that despite Crall’s questions, Project Bella was moving forward. Meer himself made a similar statement to the Weekly just the day before.

Project Bella Is Still Planned – Pinky Promise

P.G. Leaders Abandon Hope Of Project Bella Reimbursement

Wednesday night, City Council members admitted the city of Pacific Grove had dropped the ball over a desired reimbursement deal with the developer of the Project Bella hotel project.

Nevertheless, the council members voted unanimously to forgo pursuing reimbursement, much to the consternation of some residents.

As a result, the developer, Domaine Hospitality Partners, LLC, will not have to repay any portion of the city’s costs associated with development of a Local Coastal Program.

P.G. Leaders Abandon Hope Of Project Bella Reimbursement