Category Archives: Monterey Herald

Minimal Monarchs

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Maybe the cost of housing is keeping them away.

Monarch Cluster

Volunteers and officials with the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History recently counted 11,000, down from 18,000 this time last year. That count seems to buck a coastal trend, although not all the counts are in.

Sarina Jepsen, the director of the Xerces Society’s endangered species program, said that from the 145 sites counted so far, the monarch count actually seems to be up from last year. Jepsen’s program aims to raise awareness about the plight of invertebrates that are declining.

Minimal Monarchs

City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

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Residents be dammed, we want the tax money.

After 4½ hours of public comment and debate about if and how short-term rentals should exist in Pacific Grove, the City Council voted 4-3 to continue to allow them.

That decision was just the first followed by a series of amendments discussed to determine future standards and restrictions on the complex topic.

Among the changes to be instituted are:

• Safety and health inspections will be required of short-term rental applicants.

• Neighbors within 300 feet be notified about a short-term rental.

• A cap of 260 short-term rental units in the city was agreed upon. There are currently more than 180 registered units in town.

“The task force doesn’t safeguard the quality of life of residential areas,” said resident Regina Doyle. “… Instead of seeking (transient occupancy taxes), please ask residents if (short-term rentals) are in our best interest.”

City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

Don’t Be Stealing Hearts

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Burglars tried to leaf, but were pickled up by cops.

Four suspects in the burglary of The Giant Artichoke restaurant on Cannery Row were arrested Wednesday.

At about 3 a.m., Monterey officers responded to a report of suspicious persons outside the restaurant. They discovered the restaurant had been burglarized and observed four subjects fleeing the area. Officers created a perimeter and conducted a search.

The four suspects — Michael Lopez, 26, Juan O’Brien, 23 and Melissa Canales, 20, all of San Jose and Adina Jimenez, 18, from Morgan Hill — were found hiding nearby and were arrested and booked into the Monterey jail police said.

Don’t Be Stealing Hearts

Limits On Roach Coaches

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Become a destination. Enjoy food trucks, sidewalk vendors, street artists, etc.

roach-coach

Debate about food trucks on Cannery Row has been ongoing. In October, the Monterey city council and members of the public voiced their ongoing concerns over increased traffic hazards and the impact of the trucks on the city’s limited on-street parking. Restaurant owners also squawked at the potential of the mobile vendors taking their business away.

“This ordinance was very intensely discussed late last year and early this year in front of council several times,” Assistant City Manager Hans Uslar said.

Limits On Roach Coaches

Like An Envelope Of White Powder

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You never know what you’re gonna get.

Forrest Gump

An employee of the restaurant at 720 Cannery Row opened an envelope, which was hand addressed to her and delivered to the restaurant, while standing at the podium on the patio in front of the building, Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer said.

“When the employee opened it, some white powdery substance came out of the envelope, and it got on three of the employees,” he said.

A hazardous materials team came to the restaurant and tested the substance on site, determining it was powdered sugar.

Like An Envelope Of White Powder

Fruit Cheese Goes South

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Brought us that disaster called Project Bella and the sewer vapor Fiber Internet SiFi Network.

City Manager Tom Frutchey will leave his job with Pacific Grove for a similar position in Paso Robles, Mayor Bill Kampe announced Saturday.

Frutchey has been Pacific Grove city manager since October 2009. Under Frutchey, the city has seen a budget surplus each year for six years and has made progress in finances, services and operations, Kampe said.

Fruit Cheese Goes South

When The Fish Fight Back

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Fish kicked three fishing buddies butts.

The three men, who were not injured, fell from the dinghy after failing to navigate the beach’s rocky outcrop, said Suzanne Guzzi, a schoolteacher from Modesto who witnessed the accident. The passengers were not identified.

The men managed to carry their fishing gear ashore, though the boat remained in the water, bobbing upside down, hooked on a rock about 11 a.m. The Pacific Grove Police Department responded to the call, and was followed by the Monterey Fire Department.

When The Fish Fight Back

Moe Hates The New Garbage Company

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Greenwaste’s mandatory recyclables sorting rules are not making the trash creators happy. Was he old way any better?
Dumpster Hollys cafe 071216

And what a typo – Ron Shank!

Ron Shank with St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store said a centralized location to deal with the cardboard isn’t what the businesses are paying for.

Shank said he’s paying more money under GreenWaste for less service.

“I don’t mind paying a few more dollars, I realize costs are going up. I expected that,” he said. “I did not expect to have poor service and in my opinion, it’s poor service.”

Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, said a lot of work needs to be done for the sides to reach an agreement. He criticized GreenWaste’s claims of being environmentally friendly, saying some businesses will end up just driving to the dump or putting recyclables in the trash.

“The only thing that’s green about that company is money,” Ammar said.

Moe Hates The New Garbage Company

Mrs. Doubtfire Robber Arrested In P.G.

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Look at this! My first day as a woman and I’m getting hot flashes. Oh, you wicked, wicked man! Isn’t there enough flesh here to feast your eyes on?
Mrs Doubtfire Bank Robber

Brandon Alfred Calantoc

About 4:30 p.m. Thursday, detectives with the Regional Violence and Narcotics Team in Monterey County acted on a tip and went to a home on the 1100 block of Seaview Avenue in Pacific Grove where Calantoc was believed to be living, said Michael Bruno, acting commander of the team.

Calantoc was found in the home and was arrested without incident for the warrant and other misdemeanor warrants, Bruno said. A wig that belonged to Calantoc also was found in the home, Bruno said. As Calantoc was being booked into Monterey City Jail, he was found in possession of 2.1 grams of heroin packaged individually for sale, Bruno said.

Calantoc originally came to the attention of Santa Cruz police on April 3, when he robbed a bank on Morrissey Boulevard while dressed as a woman with a wig, purse and necklace. Police dubbed him “Mrs. Doubtfire” in reference to the 1993 Robin Williams movie in which Williams portrayed a woman.

A cross-dressing man also believed to be Calantoc went into a bank in Capitola the same day but did not rob it, Santa Cruz police Lt. Bernie Escalante said at the time.

Later in April, Carmel police were investigating vehicle burglaries and mail theft from the Carmel post office when they found Calantoc with stolen mail, stolen credit cards and a purse and locket necklace believed to have been worn during the Santa Cruz robbery.

Mrs. Doubtfire Robber Arrested In P.G.