Author Archives: admin

Revenue Idea! Charge Tourists For City Services

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(USA Today)

Send some of that out of town money to the city, too!

Police can spend hours working a crash at the expense of the village’s taxpayers, Police Chief Dave Willoughby said, even though none of its 2,483 residents caused the problem.

Now New Richmond and a growing number of cash-strapped communities large and small are billing at-fault out-of-town drivers and their insurance companies to recoup some of the cost of responding to and clearing accidents outside drivers cause.

Ocala, Fla., a community of 55,000, approved an ordinance last Tuesday that aims to collect more than $350,000 in annual reimbursements for police services. Larger cities, including Tampa and Boston, have expressed interest, according to Regina Moore, president of Dayton, Ohio-based Cost Recovery Corp., a company that helps communities bill accident-causers for police time.

Revenue Idea! Charge Tourists For City Services

America’s Lost Hometown – Is Moe Without A Clue?

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The Weakly takes a look at the perceived state of the city’s business. Mentions this website and the bulletin board at pacificgrove.com! But only talks about the sleepy downtown and it’s struggling storefronts. Does anyone acknowledge the existence of all the businesses that are on Forest Hill or Sunset Drive? They are the ones that are there for the residents or other businesses, tourists don’t matter there. The parking lots are filled. The stores for the most part have been there for more than a year. How do they all stay in business with no Chamber Of Commerce ads or traffic shaping signs?

Push for a business that locals will like, and visitors will want to be a part of it. Focus on tourists and the locals will avoid you.

But while the mayor dreams of using that water for affordable housing, Ammar is gung-ho for new hotels. Twice a week, he and his staff call each of PG’s 30 inns and log their occupancy rates. The state-run Asilomar Conference Center, with a third of the city’s rooms, keeps about 83 percent of them filled. The rest average a respectable 61 percent occupancy, Ammar says. As a whole, PG’s hotels sell out 42 weekends per year.

Attracted by the town’s quaint beauty and slow pace, King moved her business to PG a decade ago. But in recent years she’s found city planners to be “difficult” and the Chamber of Commerce too focused on tourism – a sentiment she says her neighboring business owners share. “I think they all have the same concerns and are disgruntled by the same issues,” she says. “We don’t feel supported by the city or the chamber at all.”

Critics are assailing city leaders for proposing new taxes, discussing parking meters, laying off staff, thinning the library and museum budgets, and moving to consolidate the public safety departments. (For a sampling of emotions, check out PG blogs lighthouseavenue.com and pacificgrove.com.)

America’s Lost Hometown – Is Moe Without A Clue?

Storms Or Suicide – Keep The Power On

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As if PG&E does not have enough damage repair to do . .

At 5:50 a.m., police responded to the 400 block of Central Avenue after a vehicle ran into a telephone pole. Police said the woman driver apparently ran into the pole intentionally because she was despondent over domestic issues. She was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for evaluation.

Storms Or Suicide – Keep The Power On

Drunk Man Shocked With Taser – Does Not Die

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Dont Taze Me

Pacific Grove Police arrived at a house on the 200 block on Congress Ave. to reports of loud music and trespassing of a vacant house. The officers arrived to find Steve Merrick, 48, intoxicated and threatening the officers. When Merrick refused to cooperate with the officers, a judgment call was made to use pepper spray and a taser to help subdue him, both of which were said to be ineffective.

src=”http://www.lighthouseavenue.com/images/TAZER1.jpg” alt=”Don’t Taze Me Bro” width=”175″ height=”175″ />

Drunk Man Shocked With Taser – Does Not Die

Things Looking Very Bad

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For police & fire departments

Up for review:

elimination of five positions and four layoffs in the fire department, five positions and two layoffs in the police department, five positions and two layoffs in public works, and four positions and three layoffs in the library. Other layoffs could occur, Colangelo said.

Also proposed is elimination of the city’s Golf Advisory Committees and ad hoc committees on campaign finance review, the city charter review and oversight of Crespi Pond, and conversion of the city’s ad hoc budget and finance committee to a permanent committee.

Things Looking Very Bad

Hear What The Winter Tourists Come For

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(Sacramento Bee)

Joke all you want about tourists from Modesto but they in my opinion are the most down to earth visitors and much more tolerable than L.A. refugees that end up wanting to move here.

They are looking for enriching experiences that don’t necessarily mean spending lots of money on big meals, paintings, fake country charm or pretentious hosts. They want to get away from home and go back with pictures and memories. Maybe a sweatshirt if they thought it was warm in the spring (hint: best souvenir sweatshirt is one from Mission Ranch, affordable and impressive).

Exploring Monterey during Winter

And there’s this: The tourists who crowd the peninsula in the high season will be absent. That means you’ll actually be able to tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium, find a parking space in Carmel, book a dinner reservation before 9:30 p.m. and ride on the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail without getting entangled in a six-bicycle pile-up.

Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

Moss Landing
Pot Stop at Little Baja
Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery

Monterey
Monterey Abalone Co.
Willy’s Smokehouse BBQ & Grill

Pacific Grove
Little Chicken House
Lattitudes

Carmel
Pine Inn
Chez Christine
Church of the Wayfarer

On the way to Big Sur
Point Lobos State Reserve
Rocky Point

Hear What The Winter Tourists Come For

Storm Racks Up Costs

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Would a full time arborist really be of benefit in the storm? Money is better spent on tree cutters and police/fire. The tree-trimmer contractors should offer inspection services in exchange for the business of trimming the trees.

The winter storm that ripped through the Monterey Peninsula two weeks ago cost the financially strapped City of Pacific Grove about $30,000.

Employees from numerous city departments worked a total of 316 overtime hours during the storm, which brought down at least 20 trees, said city manager Jim Colangelo.

The $30,000 represents the cost in overtime pay, damage done by city trees, and the fee for independent contractors, which Colangelo said included mainly tree crews. The city doesn’t have a full-time arborist.

Storm Racks Up Costs

Lighthouse Cinema Update

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Lighthouse Cinema

Let’s hope they study the populations of the are and put some thought to what movies they bring to town.

The improvements planned for the 8,500-square-foot building at 525 Lighthouse Ave. include new seats, new carpeting, new curtains, new wallpaper, new sound system, remodeled snack bar lighting, new interior and exterior paint and awnings, he said.

But all that investment comes with some risk, Enea acknowledged.

“The success of the proposed venture will be predicated upon the patronage from Pacific Grove residents,” he said.

North American Cinemas, a Santa Rosa company, which Enea said owns 125 screens on the west coast, is slated to operate the theater.

 

Lighthouse Cinema Update

Hot News! KSBW Vehicle Set On Fire

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A KSBW News camera man woke up just before 4 a.m. Monday, police said, and headed outside because he had forgotten to bring his equipment and camera inside. He went to his parked KSBW Jeep Liberty to pick up his things when he saw the fire and called police, Pacific Grove police said.

The rear bumper was on fire and the gas cap was off, they said.

Police said the camera man filmed the emergency teams’ response.

Ah, there’s a media-man all the way. Don’t take a fire extinguisher and put out the fire, pick up the camera and film the burning car . .

Hot News! KSBW Vehicle Set On Fire