Meetings Don’t Solve Fire Hazards

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

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

Daniel Howland Hall Sentenced To Prison

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

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

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

Do The Fires In L.A. Teach Us Anything?

Poor forest management is not just in the Sierras or Southern California.

At the Jan. 16 Pacific Grove City Council meeting, citizen Kevin Hanley made a plea to Councilmembers to reduce the amount of fuel load — dead dry brush, downed trees, etc. — in George Washington Park, a 20-acre, thickly wooded greenspace. Doing so, Hanley said, would reduce the chances of a fire spreading to nearby houses.

Kevin is not wrong. Here’s a few snapshots of Washington Park just feet from houses. C’mon eco freaks and tree huggers, it’s a park so treat it like one.

GW Park Fuel 1 GW Park Fuel 2 GW Park Fuel 3

 

Do The Fires In L.A. Teach Us Anything?

Disabled Aquarium Visitor Cannot Use Restroom, Can Sue

Hard to believe in this day and age, but even with help from a fish prison guard could not access the facilities.

Aquarium Kalisas

Gloria Jean Kish, from Alameda, said she and her sister were visiting the aquarium’s living kelp forest and jellyfish exhibits on July 24, 2024, when she said she encountered “significant challenges” in finding a bathroom that could accommodate disabled people.
“The ADA-accessible restroom they found in the middle of the facility was too narrow for Kish’s wheelchair and prevented her from entering,” according to the complaint filed Jan. 9 in Monterey County Superior Court. “Despite attempting to access three different restrooms, none were suitable for wheelchair use.”
She also suggested that the restroom incident contributed to medical issues, including a urinary tract infection and a permanent catheter, and that she’s been in “bed most of the time since the accident.’
She alleges violation of state laws that are intended to protect disabled people and is asking a judge to order the aquarium to comply with standards required in the Americans with Disabilities Act. She is seeking an  unspecified amount in monetary damages exceeding $35,000.

Disabled Aquarium Visitor Cannot Use Restroom, Can Sue

New Montrey Woman Nearly Killed By Soon To Be Ex

Caught by the Flock camera.

Jeremy Hinton

officers tracked down and arrested a 38-year-old man suspected of nearly beating his girlfriend to death Sunday and then stealing her car, heading to York Road and stopping to change his clothes and eat lunch.

“Officers located a female victim inside her residence suffering from major head Injuries which included multiple fractures of her skull,” Pinkas said. “She was transported to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery” and is continuing to recover from her injuries.
Investigators identified Jeremy Hinton as her attacker, he said, and police found him driving on Highway 68 near York Road, pulled him over and arrested him at gunpoint.

New Montrey Woman Nearly Killed By Soon To Be Ex

Devoted Golf Fans Not Filling The Local Tills

. . as much as the fun Crosby crowds did.

Welcome To Bings Pro Am

“Advance bookings for the AT&T week are down as compared to this time last year — potentially as much as 20 percent,” Amy Herzog, executive director of tourism group Visit Carmel, said. “And, when compared to the previous year — before the tournament format changed — bookings are down even more.”
Now organized to attract more devoted golf fans, this year’s tournament is set for Jan. 27-Feb. 2. It will bring 80 PGA pros, many of them highly ranked, and 80 amateurs to compete on the Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill courses

“The AT&T golf tournament has lost its luster compared to the Crosby Pro-Am for several reasons,” Hofsas House hotel owner Carrie Theis said. “The AT&T golf crowd was definitely here for the celebrities, compared to the U.S. Open spectators who are more devoted golf enthusiasts. “

Devoted Golf Fans Not Filling The Local Tills

Attention Tourists – Dangerous Dogs At Large

Caledonia bite reported to be a “terrier mix”, most likely a pit bull.

On Dec. 23, the Swedish tourist, who has not been identified, was jogging on a sidewalk on the 100 block of Caledonia Avenue when a dog, which was leashed, bit her, according to her friend, who detailed the attack in a social media post last week. “She needed an ambulance ride to the emergency room to receive almost two dozen stitches and emergency care for blood loss,” LB Burnett reported the day of the attack.

Also on Dec. 23, but a few hours later, another dog bite occurred on the 200 block of Grove Acre, but not as severe as the first. “A border collie was able to get out of an apartment window and bite the victim, who was walking her dogs by the apartment,” Anderson explained. “The victim was treated by the fire department and released.

Attention Tourists – Dangerous Dogs At Large