Category Archives: Monterey Herald

Guitar Mike, The Recreation Trail Strummer

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I’ve wondered what the story was. Stop and listen while on your walk.

At 54, Urso has dreams and aspirations of making a CD one day, and maybe hitting it big, but doesn’t know how to get that done.

So he plays for tourists and locals who pass him on the recreation trail, a few hundred yards south of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They reward him with coins and dollar bills.

“I had a pretty good day yesterday. The Row was packed with people walking around for the holidays and I wound up making about $30,” says Urso, who wears dirty jeans with softball-sized holes in the knees, a dark blue parka and an olive green cap. His silver hair is long and his beard could use a trim.

Guitar Mike, The Recreation Trail Strummer

Art Galleries Attracting More Crime

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Try to be more like Carmel, P.G. gets the same crime as Carmel.
Art Is Anal

12/15/08

Thief working the Works: To the sticky fingered individual who lifted a gorgeous painting from the walls of the Works art gallery in Pacific Grove, I offer my most sincere feelings of pity, as you are obviously a pathetic person. As much as this world needs compassion right now, I really can’t feel anything for you but objective anger. Shame on you, you thief and loser.

Misty Dawn

12/22/08

Give it back: I join Misty Dawn, who wrote to report the theft of a painting from The Works gallery, in saying, “Shame on you” to the thief.

The Pacific Grove Art Center was also struck by a sneak thief who stole an exquisite needlepoint tote bag from a display by one of the studio artists. The incident was a personal violation against the artist.

In addition to the expense of materials, hundreds of hours of work were involved in creating this beautiful piece, which was displayed for the enjoyment of others. How could anyone possibly enjoy something that was stolen from the artist, on display at a nonprofit center, right before Christmas? This petty criminal deserves a lump of coal in his or her stocking.

Joan Jeffers McCleary

P.G. Business Tells Army Sargent “We Don’t Serve Your Kind”

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A soldier at the Presidio of Monterey got a taste of that attitude on Veterans Day in Pacific Grove this year. As he and his wife were leaving a business establishment, they were told, “We don’t serve your kind around here.”

Army Sgt. Derek Williams, who is studying Spanish at the Defense Language Institute, is just back from a combat tour in Iraq with the 504th Military Intelligence Battalion.

Ice Cream Shoppe

It’s the Ice Cream Shoppe on Lighthouse. The place is a shrine to the anti-Bush types.

P.G. BusinessTells Army Sargent “We Don’t Serve Your Kind”

Stamm To Be Retried On Child Molestation Charges

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David Stamm

The date for the second trial of a Monterey businessman accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy, showing him child pornography, and tampering with a witness, was rescheduled Wednesday to Feb. 2 —five weeks later than the original date — to allow the prosecution, the defense, and Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan additional time to prepare.

Stamm To Be Retried On Child Molestation Charges

Cannery Row Is More Than Steinbeck Or Tourists

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Stohans

the Clement hotel built a walkway that gives pedestrians free access to the ocean side of the hotel and the rear of the Pacific Biological Laboratory, “Doc’s Lab,” where Ed Ricketts plied his trade as a collector of specimens for marine biological research.

Eventually, he said, similar walkways may give the public walking access to the entire Cannery Row shore front.

“It’s not just about Steinbeck anymore,” said Bonnie Adams, executive director of the Cannery Row Business Association.

Besides Steinbeck’s own lore, the walking tour gives glimpses into the role of women in the canneries, the great Associated Oil fire of 1924, Cannery Row in the movies and in literature.

Cannery Row Is More Than Steinbeck Or Tourists

Glen Blevins Gets Prison For Beating Laborer

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Blevins attended P.G. High

Judge Timothy Roberts said he was aware of ongoing federal and state court cases addressing the inadequacy of mental health care in California’s prisons.

However, he said, attempts to find an alternative program for Glenn Blevins were unsuccessful and he was too much of a danger to release.

Roberts also rejected Blevins’ request to withdraw his no-contest plea, saying it was too late in the case. Blevins said he agreed to the plea bargain only because he’d been told he would be granted probation.

The judge said the viciousness of his crime, and Blevins’ increasingly serious arrest record, made him an inappropriate candidate for probation.

Glen Bevins Gets Prison For Beating Laborer

Stolen Check Gang Arrested

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The illicit activity started in September and happened in places from Salinas to the Peninsula, Uretsky said. Pacific Grove Police started investigating in October after a resident reported her mail, which included courtesy checks from her credit card company, stolen. One check turned up at a Pacific Grove bank and the teller recognized the name, he said.

Edith Gaskins, 39, of Seaside, one of the people arrested, allegedly opened a checking account online with one of the woman’s stolen checks.

Also arrested were Leticia Balajadia, 33, of Seaside, and Marina residents Warkiesha Pettis-Gulley, 33, and Brian Anderson, 40.

I’ve been having my mail sent to a Post Office Box for over 20 years, because of things like this. Always wondered what would happen if one of those ‘instant debt’ checks that come every month got lifted..

Stolen Check Gang Arrested

Letters From The Editor – Bicyclists

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If it’s not enough getting assaulted or mugged, now it’s harassment by the bike riders.
Bicycle Crash

Recently, my family and I have taken to the Monterey Rec Trail for some relaxing bike riding. The first outing led to my children getting a quick lesson in profanity from a bicyclist who was going at an excessive speed. The second came with another bicyclist crashing into my daughter, leaving her bleeding. Sure, he turned around but never once came back to ensure she was OK.

I find it despicable that these bikers think that they own this Rec Trail and that they are performing the Tour De France. After summoning a police officer he informed me that this Rec Trail is for walkers, runners, and bikers of all ages.

Letters From The Editor – Bicyclists

Holman’s For Sale – Agha Gives Up On Making It A Hotel

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Don’t know if he is telling the truth or not.
Holmans For Sale

Saying he’s fed up with nearly 14 years of delays in his attempt to build a luxury hotel in downtown Pacific Grove, developer Nader Agha has put the landmark Holman Building on the market.

The sale price of $17.95 million includes the 84-year-old, 120,000-square-foot Holman Building and the 1.35-acre lot it sits on, as well as four other lots on Fountain Avenue being used for parking and a building across the street at 549 Lighthouse, Agha said.

Nader’s Hotel Proposal, also championed by Losin’ Susan:Holman hotel

Nader blames the changes in city leaders, but other business people have been successful in deals with the city. Old Bathhouse. Lighthouse Cinema. Maybe a big (ugly) hotel is not what we need.

Holman’s For Sale – Agha Gives Up On Making It A Hotel

What Recession? We Have A Luxury Spa For Dogs

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Dogs have more accessibility than the disabled around here. Watch your step.

Dog High Chair

The promenade, Cannery Row’s first Holiday Pet Parade, was a benefit for the SPCA of Monterey County and the Animal Friends Rescue Project.

For the canine competitors, adorned in their holiday best, it paid big dividends to finish first. The grand prize was a luxury spa appointment at Chateau Le Paws at the American Tin Cannery. Their owners got the human equivalent from the Energia Spa at the new Intercontinental Clement Monterey Hotel.

What Recession? We Have A Luxury Spa For Dogs