Category Archives: Pacific Grove

On Schedule. Central Avenue Pharmacy Gets Robbed Again

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They need to beef up the security for the sake of the workers there.

Central Drugs

Men wearing masks and hoods stormed Central Avenue Pharmacy in Pacific Grove at 5  p.m. last Tuesday, making off with a small amount of cash but no drugs, PGPD spokesman Rory Lakind said this week, and police are asking the public for help catching them. Investigators hope anyone who might have seen or heard anything will contact them. They are also hoping nearby homes and businesses might have captured images of the robbers with security cameras.

On Schedule. Central Avenue Pharmacy Gets Robbed Again

Brewpubs Are The New Bistro

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I did not note where this newsbit came from – it’s atrocious. Probably written by Moe after an orgasm while sampling a brew.

economy is America takes a downturn
Huh?

Hambrook’s Auction next door to Pier 1 has already closed its doors. The auction house was in business for almost five decades.
Almost 5 decades? 40 years ago I was buying furniture from McMahons.

there were no pubs at all until 2018 when the Monarch Pub opened.
Try 1970s Forest Hill, Fairway Center. Pizza Pub

A brewpub is big news for Pacific Grove, well known for remaining a temperance town long after the ratification of the 21st amendment. Until 1968 Pacgrovians couldn’t buy a beer in town and there were no pubs at all until 2018 when the Monarch Pub opened.

The downtown is going through a period of change. Several storefronts are vacant as the retail economy is America takes a downturn. This month Pier 1 announced it is closing 450 of its stores nationwide, including the one on Lighthouse Ave. in Pacific Grove. For some, it is the end of an era.

“We got excited because it was Pier 1 right on main street,” said Pier 1 shopper Connie Thompson.

Thompson said she is sad to see the storefront close. Ammar said in the case of the Pacific Grove store it came down to lease negotiations not sales.

“It’s financially viable they were just not prepared to sign the lease,” said Ammar about lease negotiations between Pier 1 and its landlord.

Hambrook’s Auction next door to Pier 1 has already closed its doors. The auction house was in business for almost five decades. The owner plans to renovate the space into an event center, a first for downtown Pacific Grove.

Brewpubs Are The New Bistro

No MJ For PG

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So it’s proven that children have easy access to alcohol. And it’s been “hugely detrimental”. I think the problem is the same – no enforcement of keeping kids away from drugs.

Butterfly Weed

But Peake told The Pine Cone last week that the idea of allowing a marijuana outlet is now off the table. “Cannabis is not on council’s near-term agenda,” he said. “There wasn’t any appetite to move forward.” Peake was referring in part to concerns from the Pacific Grove Unified School District and residents. Pacific Grove Unified superintendent Ralph Porras, who worked in Santa Cruz schools for 18 years, said the availability of marijuana there was “hugely detrimental”to students.

No MJ For PG

Ecofarmers Ecomeet At Ecosilomar

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Sounds scary. Are they set up to take away farms from white farmers and kill them?

The Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm) is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission since 1981 is to promote health, social justice and ecologically sustainable farms. Noting the often lack of diversity among the presenters, EcoFarm four years ago formed a diversity advisory committee to address the problem.

Ecofarmers Ecomeet At Ecosilomar

Downtown Departed

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Called citizens Morons. Substainable Pusher. Runaway Mayor. That’s what I remember most.

Dan Cort Dozing

 

Cort was a successful mayor, Gorman said, because he was able to balance the interests of residents, business owners and environmentalists. “Dan was a gentleman in the true sense of the word gentleman,” he said. Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar, who knew Cort well, said he was great with people. “As a business leader, he was pro-business and supported the town by shopping locally,” Ammar said. “Some of his biggest accomplishments included attracting the farmers market to P.G., funding the city’s museum and chamber of commerce, and supporting the city’s lease with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.”

Downtown Departed

Schenk’s Can Was Canned

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Pink Slip

Not Ron Schenk

Ron Schenk, who worked regularly at the Pacific Grove thrift store he founded two decades ago, wants to set the record straight: He did not “retire” from his job, he was fired. In November, Schenk, 82, the founder of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop on Forest Avenue, was told by the president of the board of directors for the local chapter of St. Vincent de Paul Society that the board wanted him gone.

Schenk’s Can Was Canned

I’d Disagree With Ron Schenk

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Letters from the editor:

Over 20 years ago I opened the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store on Forest Avenue in Pacific Grove; both to provide residents with quality second-hand goods, and to raise St. Vincent de PaulSt. Vincent de Paulmoney for the poor. For 20 years I ran the store, rounded up volunteers and solicited donations. Recently, however, the Board removed me as they felt I had been rude to a few customers, a position I don’t agree with.

Here I was in 2010 at the Holiday Parade Of Lights, waiting to get video of my children in the parade . . when Mr. Schenk walks in front of me and proceeds to yap it up. That’s rude, I say.Ron Schenk Hpol 2003

I’d Disagree With Ron Schenk

“Wizard’s” Wannabe Apprentice Can’t Read A Court Calendar

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Colangelo Shrug Ani
“One member of the public who spoke up during the meeting was Joy Colangelo, who lives in Pacific Grove and is a staunch advocate for short-term rental owners. Colangelo was pushing for perpetuity, and she also invited the Carmel council to come watch a trial that was scheduled to start on Dec. 16 in Monterey County Superior Court, pitting short-term landlords against the city of P.G. for allegedly violating their rights with limits on the rentals. The plaintiffs are represented by the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Phoenix. Colangelo touted their attorney, Goldwater executive VP Christina Sandefur: “She’s a wizard!” Coangelo gushed. Alas, the trial was not to be.” Note – said “Wizard” voluntarily dismissed the most important claim and therefore the trial was cancelled – court approved the dismissal on Nov 21.

S.T.Rs Keep On Losing

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And lawyers keep on charging

In essence, the short-term rental supporters allege that the lottery randomly singled them out without providing a cause for why their licenses to operate short-term rentals were not renewed. The city counters that it was stated in writing when the property owners signed the license application that it was good for only 12 months and might not be renewed.

Case watchers agree that Goldwater wants to lose as soon as possible so they can then appeal the verdict to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case is more far-reaching than just Pacific Grove. If successfully appealed to the Ninth Circuit, then the outcome of that court’s decision, one way or the other, could have significant ramifications for cities’ ability to legislate short-term rentals up and down California.

However, the Ninth Circuit earlier this month upheld the city of Santa Monica’s ban on short-term rentals. That decision can now be cited in lower court cases such as the lawsuit against the city of Pacific Grove.

S.T.Rs Keep On Losing

Coastal Commission Plan or Forced Demolition?

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There goes my plan for Six Flags Over Asilomar.

Asilomar Gardens

But not all Pacific Grove residents are thrilled about the approval. Members of the Asilomar Dunes neighborhood came out in force for Friday’s commission meeting to protest portions of the coastal program they believe are draconian and infringe on their property rights.

Among the debated issues has to do with driveways. The just-approved program requires that development be capped at 15% coverage of dunes that houses sit on, including driveways. Asilomar residents argue that driveways should not be part of the 15% and instead be excluded.

Other contentious parts of the plan include height limits that homeowners say would require portions of their second stories to be removed, restrictions that would prevent them from rebuilding after natural disasters and the inability to replace damaged sections of houses.

Coastal Commission Plan or Forced Demolition?