Category Archives: Carmel Pine Cone

P.G. Library Still Needs Funds. Let’s Blow $40,000 On A Web Site

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And sustainable kook Deborah “Bankrupt” Lindsay calls volunteer websites “schlock”. Some sites might be schlock, but only a schmo would buy a website to mislead tourists to visit our drek ghost town.

Library Book Drop

Pacific Grove will spend nearly $40,000 on a new website the city says will draw more tourists downtown and bolster business.

Though the Pacific Grove City Council went back and forth on the issue at the Jan.20 meeting, council members ultimately approved a resolution authorizing the city to spend $39,950 on a new website.

P.G. Library Still Needs Funds. Let’s Blow $40,000 On A Web Site

Holman Hotel Host To Walgreens?

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Sounds good on paper. A Walgreen store would not step on to many blessed businesses that oppose anything that would compete (Grove Market, Fandango, Pollacci Liquor & Date, etc). But if Nadir is in the mix, I predict failure.

Walgreen Holmans

The first floor of the Holman building in downtown Pacific Grove could become home to a Walgreens pharmacy — a large retailer that could bring a boost to local business, according to the city’s chamber of commerce.

Agha’s plan for a 300-room hotel, which the developer has pursued for years, would still be possible even if the building’s first floor is leased to a retailer. Currently, the 60,000-square foot-space is occupied by antique dealers, a bank and a restaurant.

Holman Hotel Host To Walgreens?

P.G. Has The Highest Permit Fees

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Hey, they have to find a way to pay the high-paid staff somehow. And it never stopped Juan The Builder from flipping houses
Juan The Builder Sunk It

In comparing Pacific Grove’s fees to the county and other cities, the grand jury asked each jurisdiction what it would charge to handle plan checks and building permits for a 1,400-square-foot home with construction costs of $350,000.

In Carmel, the fees would be $3,949.69, while Pacific Grove would charge $10,091.38. Monterey would charge $6,491.92, while the county would charge $5,016.51 for the same structure, the grand jury found. City officials did not return messages left by The Pine Cone Thursday.

P.G. Has The Highest Permit Fees

Let’s Spend $$ On A New Slogan To Attract More Tourists?

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While library hours dwindle.

I wonder what the approval % would be like if there was a vote to spend revenues on attracting tourists.

Pacific Grove has an identity crisis, city leaders say. Butterfly Town USA, America’s Last Hometown and other catch phrases have left P.G. with an amorphous identity that fails even to hint at the city’s greatest attraction: its stunning coastline.

The city also has a calendar of quirky civic celebrations such as the Feast of Lanterns and the Good Old Days that make it a hard place to pin down. And that’s made it difficult to market Pacific Grove to tourists, the city contends. A recent study even suggested visitors are not aware of Pacific Grove and the attractions it offers.

Anyway – the best slogan is the truth – “Pacific Grove, For The Newly Wed & The Nearly Dead”

Let’s Spend $$ On A New Slogan To Attract More Tourists?

Short Term Rentals Approved, Taxes On The Way

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Tax the realtors – I like it.

The council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance reversing the ban on short-term rentals, which the city hopes will generate at least $200,000 in revenue each year.

The new ordinance requires landlords to obtain a license from the city and pay a 10 percent transient occupancy tax in order to rent out their units for less than 30 days at a time. The ordinance puts homeowners in line with the city’s hotels and inns.

“The revenue generated from the license fees and [transient occupancy tax] will help pay for a code enforcement officer,” Pacific Grove city manager Tom Frutchey said.

Short Term Rentals Approved, Taxes On The Way

Art “Theft” Investigation Still Continues, Still The Same Suspects

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Don’t forget about the story of the year. Nothing new, looks like as long as the sheriff stays quiet so do the suspects.

Monterey County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Mike Richards confirmed Wednesday that research into the purported September burglary of a Pebble Beach home — and the resulting disappearance of millions of dollars’ worth of artwork — is ongoing.

And the alleged victims, A. Benjamin Amadio and Ralph Kennaugh, are suspected of committing insurance fraud in the same case.
…
He said detectives suspect the men of insurance fraud and reported they continue to be uncooperative and have not provided any information to validate the existence of the pieces and their ownership of the originals.

Art “Theft” Investigation Still Continues, Still The Same Suspects

City Massacres Butterfly Trees, Butterflies A No Show

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There you go again, messing up Pacific Grove for the sake of the tourists.

Butterfly Tree Stump

“There was a concern that the trimming may have discouraged monarchs from coming to the grove,” said P.G. City Manager Tom Frutchey. “It’s a good hypothesis, but we don’t know the answer to it yet.”

The eucalyptus, which often shed limbs, were trimmed for the safety of visitors to the monarch grove sanctuary, Frutchey said.

City Massacres Butterfly Trees, Butterflies A No Show

$40,000 Not Satisfactory Over Dog Death

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Olga rejects settlement.

Olga

Though California doesn’t allow a person to financially recover for emotional distress from the death of an animal, Ospina’s attorney contends a jury will see that her need for treatment is a result of the attack that killed her dog.

Ospina’s pain and suffering alone is worth $70,000, according to the documents. The dog attack forced Ospina to miss about 16 days of work, which cost her $8,184, an amount characterized as a “fraction of her salary.”

$40,000 Not Satisfactory Over Dog Death

Pet Killer Still Leaving Antifreeze Baited Food

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Evidence points to another resident in the same apartment complex. People who torture animals often graduate up to other crimes. .

The person who placed a dish of antifreeze in a flower bed of a Pacific Grove apartment complex to kill a tenant’s cat in September set out two more bowls of the poison, this time adding food to the toxic soup so it would be more enticing to felines.

Pet Killer Still Leaving Antifreeze Baited Food

City Comes Out On Top In Gay Cop Harassment Case

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Smolinski sought an unspecified amount of money in damages. He claimed the police department’s email system was used to “circulate information which utilized derogatory terms and statements relating to homosexual and bisexual individuals.”

One joke, entitled, “Time for your annual “Am I Gay” self examination,” included seven offcolor, disparaging questions, he said. The sender included a disclaimer that the message was intended as a joke.

Was going to add a photoshopped picture of a lavender police car but decided not to.
Even though the city won this (it must have cost a lot of library $$ to defend) whomever was using the city’s email to send jokes needs a days suspension or better. What other city resources are the highly paid public safety employees wasting our money on?

City Comes Out On Top In Gay Cop Harassment Case