Author Archives: admin

Tree Tires Of Waiting For Permit, Falls On Its Own

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City arborist said the tree was fine and had a lot of life left in it. Arborist just might be a moron.

The top of the tree took out his children’s zipline and the family’s bench swing. Penchan said he is happy it was him and the dog in the backyard and not one of his three children, who may not have recognized the sound.

Penchan said he and his realtor had already asked the city for a permit to remove the tree twice.

“It should have never gotten this far. This was an issue we brought up first in November,” he said.

Penchan and his wife bought the home on Walnut Street at the end of 2014. In November, their real estate agent, John Carminati, with Jones Group, expressed concerns about the tree and filed for a permit to remove the tree. Carminati said the city lost that application.

Tree Tires Of Waiting For Permit, Falls On Its Own

Sewer Rate Increases

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Never mind the lack of maintenance and failing MRWPCA pump station. Pay Per Flush and Smart Sewer Meters can’t be far behind.

A discovery that the city had been overcharging customers for several years angered many and led to a grassroots effort to overturn a 10-year rate hike proposal, with 1,421 residents penning letters against the idea. But it wasn’t enough to stop the move — 3,051 responses were needed — and the City Council unanimously adopted the increases.

“We’re going to be able to move ahead,” said Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe just after the responses were tallied.

The figure was not what the opposition had hoped for. The controversy arose after the city collected $600,000 in sewer fees over the last few years without issuing a required notice to ratepayers. During that time, the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency also raised its rates, which were linked to the city’s rate and added to homeowners’ bills.

Sewer Rate Increases

That Free Fiber Plan Turns Into a $1,000,000 Per Year Cost To P.G.

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AT$T and Comca$t do not appear interested in paying for borrowed fiber optics running in the sewers.

Sifi Sewer Networks

SiFi’s business model is to take a low risk middle position in the deal and flip it to institutional investors. Initially, the risk would have been offset by signing long term operating agreements with incumbent cable and telephone companies. But as company CEO Ben Bawtree-Jobson said with classic English understatement yesterday, “there’s been some kick back from those tier one service providers”.

Bawtree-Jobson laid out the new deal:
SiFi builds the network for $15 million and Pacific Grove leases it for 30 years at a price in the $1 million a year range (ramps to $852,000 in year 3 with cost of living increases after that).
Third party ISPs resell services, with a residential gigabit pegged at $90 a month.

That Free Fiber Plan Turns Into a $1,000,000 Per Year Cost To P.G.(Steve Bloom, Tellus Venture Associates)

Diver Dies At San Carlos Beach

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A diver who encountered problems during a training exercise at San Carlos Beach in Monterey over the weekend has died, coroner’s office officials confirmed Thursday.

Exactly when she died is unclear, but on Saturday afternoon when she was taken to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment, paramedics said she was unresponsive and had a pulse.

Diver Dies At San Carlos Beach

4,000 Year Old Skeleton Unearthed On Lighthouse Avenue

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Newest Outzenville apartments being built over native burial site. Nothing to be afraid of, right?

The mysterious male skeleton found on a Monterey job site last month is 4,080 years old, testing has revealed.
The age solidifies early assumptions he was Native American, significantly predating European contact.

The skeleton’s age did not surprise the local Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation.

“What can we say? These are our ancestors and we know they’ve been here for longer than the 4,000 years,” chairwoman Louise Miranda Ramirez said.

4,000 Year Old Skeleton Unearthed On Lighthouse Avenue

Newcomer Food Critic Moves In

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Drinks a bit much – super concern over lack of bars. What were you expecting?

I never imagined moving to the 93950, the land of Monarch butterflies, grenade-dropping seagulls and the ubiquitous red-faced, short-sighted nimby. But a few weeks ago I left Monterey and landed in Pacific Grove, a bit wary yet eager to explore “America’s Last Hometown.”

The first oddity: There are no bars in Pacific Grove (the city currently allows on-site consumption of alcohol only at full-scale restaurants — requiring at least 70 percent of seating reserved for dining).

The second oddity: Driving downtown after 8 p.m. is like riding into Tombstone before a gunfight. There are a few folks spilling out of the movie theater (great theater experience, by the way), and more than a few hospitality folks bellied up to the wine bar at Jeninni. But that’s about it. Carmel has a frustrating parking problem. P.G. can only wish for such a problem. A responsible, classy bar (even as part of a downtown restaurant) would help extend the nightlife past sunset. And it would also provide me with a home office.

Newcomer Food Critic Moves In

Turn Of Events: Holman’s Antiques Robbed

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Unlike sellers of fake antique clocks…

Holmans Antique Sale

Pacific Grove police are on the lookout for two suspects in a theft at Holman Antiques on Lighthouse Avenue Friday.

A black man and black woman distracted the clerk while they took diamond earrings and two Rolex watches, police said.

The employees didn’t notice the items were stolen until they closed the shop.

Turn Of Events Holman’s Antiques Robbed

Bears Vacationing In P.G.

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Careful, Yogi. Carmel shoots them out of trees.

The black bear was caught in Monterey Sunday morning by California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers. Officers used tranquilizer guns, and the bear was not injured.

Shortly after, wildlife officials released the male bear back into the wild, deep in Los Padres National Forest.

Don Kelly of the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife said the bear most likely wandered into residential areas looking for food.

Bears Vacationing In P.G.

Casey Lucius Runs For Congress

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Good luck, you will need it running against Sam the sham, even when you support same sex marriage and abortions.

Politics

In a YouTube clip announcing her run, Lucius said voters who are concerned about jobs, water, the environment and national security should support her so “we can create a new beginning.”

In the “Issues” section of her website, CaseyLucius.com, she said she supports gay marriage, is concerned about climate change but wants to limit global spending, supports the Second Amendment and abortion rights in the first six months of a pregnancy.

“On the Central Coast, we have a gang problem, not a gun problem,” her website states.

Casey Lucius Runs For Congress

Holmans Building Will Be Gutted

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Nader’s Dream is back. This time the Holmans building becomes a bunch of multi million dollar condos and his big hotel takes up the rest of the block.

Durell Hotel

Developers are proposing two projects for the Holman Building property. The first project would turn the building into commercial space and condominiums. The second one would bring construction of Pacific Grove’s first hotel. To get it done, the developers need to split the lot and get multiple permits.

Developer Nader Agha is heading up the hotel project. The hotel, if all goes as planned, will be a 135-room Hilton Garden Inn. Agha wants to build it on the back two-thirds of the property.

Holmans Building Will Be Gutted