Pacific Grove would be a better place if the city’s unsightly newspaper racks were replaced with uniform, less conspicuous ones. That’s the opinion of the city’s Beautification and Natural Resources Committee, which will tell the city council in February it should change its eight racks, a move which will cost P.G. about $4,000 per year for maintenance.
Take out the sandwich board signs, too.
“Now that we have our coastal permit, that is the door that opens us to get all of the plans finalized and get the project ready to go to bid and begin construction” said Steve Leiker, P.G.’s public works director.
Now that we have our coastal permit, do we have the funds?
DNA of one of two brothers charged with the 1997 murder of Kristopher Olinger was found on the steering wheel of Olinger’s car, according to testimony in a grand jury transcript released Tuesday afternoon.
Department of Justice criminalists matched DNA found in the horn area of the steering wheel to Angel Ruelas, 26, of Soledad. The car was stolen from Olinger, 17, when he was stabbed to death along the Pacific Grove Recreation Trail. It was later found abandoned in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose.
Our punctuation in P.G. was the fire horn. Mounted on top of City Hall, which was also the fire station in those days, it was part of our identity, our signature of sound, unlike anything else in Western civilization. It was harsh, raucous, insistent and serious in intent.
In Pacific Grove, the horn was part of the fine volunteer tradition. We all had posted in our homes the code telling the approximate location of the fire. “One, One, Three” meant Forest and Lighthouse, etc., and there was a chalkboard in front of the station with the address of the blaze.
Living on Grand Avenue, the horn was the lunchtime alarm. I’d champion to keep it, but I’m sure some of the Come Heres would object.
. . owners of Griggs Nursery in Pacific Grove plan to shut the business and sell the land for eight homes. The city’s planning commission has recommended amending the city’s general plan so the houses can be built.
Allowing for homes to built on the property at 1021 David Ave. would not only benefit the Griggs, who could sell the water-ready lots for $465,000 to $495,000 each, but would be an advantage to the city since it would receive property tax revenue, Silkwood said. And the neighbors would benefit as well, she maintained.
Several hundred small fish washed up dead on the beach between Lovers Point and Esplanade Park on Monday morning, state Department of Fish and Game officials confirmed.
The officials said it was unclear how the fish, likely sardines, ended up on shore, but it was possible that they were thrown from a fishing boat. Throwing dead fish off a boat would be violation of state law, according to associated marine biologist Travis Tanaka.
Hear that? Is casting bait considered throwing dead fish?
Five years ago, a wallflower that grows only on the sand of local dunes nearly disappeared.
Only five Menzies wallflowers held out, the rest snuffed out by decades-old patches of ice plant in the ground at the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove.
But today, more than 130 of the flowers are growing at the city’s golf course. Another 250 will be in the ground soon.
Ahh! Food for deer, attracting more mountain lions.
But there was time and money to kill the ice plant that prevented erosion.
Facing a projected half-million-dollar shortfall by June, the Pacific Grove City Council approved one-time cuts to nearly all of the city’s departments on Wednesday to balance the budget while avoiding layoffs.
Vacancies in the police department, $320,000.
Delay in the completion of storm drainage work, $75,000
Eliminating a winter youth basketball game, $1,500
Spring adult sports, $1,200
Part-time shelver at the library, $8,000
Maintenance of ocean-front turnouts, $6,000
Items on the list include maintenance of trees, recreation trails, sidewalks and streets; competitive pay for police officers and firefighters; and restoring Sunday and night hours twice a week at the library.
The Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce has launched three fundraising campaigns for various projects throughout the city:
• Furnish the teacher’s lounge at Pacific Grove Middle School.
• Funds for the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary for more trees in the center of the sanctuary and a new drip irrigation system<
• Funds to assess the antiquated streetlights on Candy Cane Lane that require special and expensive maintenance.
All noble causes. But shouldn’t the COC be working to bring some commerce to town? They are out begging for $$ while storefronts remain empty.
When a couple of sixth-graders from Pacific Grove Middle School found a wallet on the sidewalk in front of the school last week, they saved Christmas for (the Whitis) family in Texas.
“I just want you to know how impressed I am with the quality of students at Pacific Grove Middle School,” Whitis wrote school administrators on Thursday. “How easy would it have been for them to take the money and toss the wallet into the trash! Instead, they did what was right. They took it to the office so it could be returned to the very distraught owner.
“I have been in education for 26 years, and it is always heartwarming to know how wonderful young people can be. Thank you for what you have done to instill such wonderful values in their young lives. Their act of kindness saved Christmas not only for my daughter, but also for her entire family in Texas. I see your students as a Christmas miracle, and for that I want to say thank you.”