Category Archives: Pacific Grove

Jacobo Ruelas Conviction Stands

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As it should be.
Kris Olinger Bench 2013

The Sixth District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Jacobo Ruelas in the 1997 murder of 17-year-old Kristopher Olinger, according to Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo.

Ruelas was convicted in October 2013 of first-degree murder with special circumstances, kidnapping for robbery and kidnapping for carjacking in the death of the Monterey High School senior, who was stabbed and left to die near the Pacific Grove Recreation Trail.

Ruelas was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

The case went unsolved for nearly a decade before state investigators matched palm prints on Olinger’s car in 2005 to Ruelas and his brother Angel.

Angel Ruelas was also charged in connection with the crime, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

Jacobo Ruelas Conviction Stands

Fake Solicitors Begging for Money

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Be careful when dealing with solicitors. Or don’t ever give them anything.

On Wednesday, after someone complained, police spoke with one of the solicitors who claimed to be collecting money for “Carepackagecampaign.org.”

Police said they researched the organization and found reports and warnings that the campaign is fake.

Police want residents to be careful when dealing with solicitors, and to always request to see their permits.

Fake Solicitors Begging for Money

Three Hour Parking For Customers Is Over

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But that doesn’t affect the Victorian Corner Crew On Fountain that park all day with no enforced limits

Parking Victorian Corner Cars

The city’s 3-hour pilot parking program, dubbed “park
once,” was designed to give patrons the ability to dine at
restaurants and “still have time to stroll along our sidewalks and make a second purchase.” But city officials found that visitors didn’t park as long as they expected.

Three-hour parking will continue on all other downtown streets and the municipal lots at  Fandango restaurant, the rear of Lighthouse Cinemas and on 15th Street to encourage storeowners and their workers to park in city lots. Though the city had proposed modifying downtown parking limit signs to say “For Customers Only” to discourage shopkeepers from parking in front of their stores, Brodeur said that didn’t happen. “Our consulting traffic engineer and city attorney told us we could not place such language on a regulatory sign because we cannot enforce it,” he said.

Three Hour Parking For Customers Is Over

You Can Tune A Piano But You Cant Tuna Crab

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Must be a feast for the gulls

Red Tuna Crab

Santa Cruz Sentinel Photo

Native to Baja and the Gulf of California, red tuna crabs spend their lives drifting en masse in the water column offshore. Generally, Monterey is too cold for them. But during El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, warm water moves unusually far north, bringing the crabs up with it. ENSO is an irregularly periodical climate change caused by variations in sea surface temperatures over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.

You Can Tune A Piano But You Cant Tuna Crab

Moe Says More Tourists Will Solve Everything

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Never mind the minimum wage workers and those that prey on tourists that follow.

The Holman renovation will include four ocean-view penthouses, eight new stores, and 25 2,000-square-foot luxury condos.

The condos are expected to cost between $550 and $700 per square foot.

“We have never had condos built in this price range on the Monterey Peninsula with the exception of the Inn at Spanish Bay,” Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar said.

Ammar said he believes even though it’s a first for Pacific Grove, the development will be successful.

“We know it’s going to work because the demand is there,” Ammar said. “Everybody wants to live on the Central Coast. Everybody wants an ocean view. And ocean view development just doesn’t exist anymore.”

At the Tin Cannery, a 160-room hotel is being planned across the street from the aquarium.

Still in the early stages of the project, the development needs approval by the Coastal Commission. But first, the city’s voters will have to approve zoning changes that allow for a hotel.

The Chamber of Commerce predicts the hotel could bring in $30 million a year, or 25 percent of the city’s budget.

Moe Says More Tourists Will Solve Everything

Venison Is Low Fat And Calories

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Mountain lions can’t be wrong.

Cougar

In the past week, there have been two reported deer kills and one mountain lion sighting, according to the Pacific Grove Police Department.

The incidents occurred near the golf course and 17 Mile Drive ballpark. Deer frequently graze here and there have been mountain lion sightings in the past.

Venison Is Low Fat And Calories

Missing P.G. Man Found Deceased In Hollister

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Chad Hillhouse, 39, loved the outdoors and frequently visited Asilomar State Beach. But when he went missing on Aug. 13, he left no trace. No one saw or heard from him until this past weekend, when a group of people in the Hollister Hills area found his body.

His mother, Deb Dahlinger, was notified Tuesday, three days after she flew back home to Hawaii without knowing much about her son’s whereabouts. She came to Monterey County with her two other children to search for Hillhouse.

Missing P.G. Man Found Deceased In Hollister

Police Chief Vicki Myers Is Out

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Friutcheese cites riots in USA as a reason.

PGPD Help Wanted

As dual-city Police Chief Vicki Myers shifts her focus back to Seaside, Pacific Grove is beginning its search for an interim police chief.

Myers, who served as police chief in Seaside and Pacific Grove since 2012, was given a 90-day notice over the weekend that Pacific Grove will terminate its contract with Seaside pertaining to Myers running its police department.

Frutchey also cited two “no-confidence” votes by the Pacific Grove police union and a citywide survey that found residents would like to keep its own separate police department as reasons for the city moving on from Myers.

Police Chief Vicki Myers Is Out

Forest Hill Too Good, Let’s Ruin It

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Traffic Calming
Coming soon to Forest Hill. Roundabouts, bumpouts, unused bike lanes, and other “traffic calming improvements” to bring the war on cars to another Pacific Grove roadway much like Central Avenue. Just the thought is costing taxpayers $150,000.

Some of the design solutions on the table include extending sidewalks and slowing down vehicle traffic with narrower turn lanes.

Leaders charged with making Highway 68 a safer place for everyone in Pacific Grove took to the streets Wednesday to identify key problems.

Recently a $150,000 Cal Trans grant was allocated to study ways to improve all modes of transportation along Highway 68 within Pacific Grove city limits.

“We are looking at the physical corridor to see where the issues really lie and where the problems are,” Ariana Green with TAMC said.

“It’s really sad all of the accidents, all of the fatalities. Just in the last year there have been three fatalities and seven accidents with pedestrians getting hurt, so it’s pretty bad,” Moe Ammar with the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce said.

Forest Hill Too Good, Let’s Ruin It

Shared Police Chief Quits P.G.

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Was it too quiet for Vicki in Pacific Grove?

PGPD Help Wanted

After three years as police chief for both Pacific Grove and Seaside, Chief Vicki Myers is stepping down as top cop in Pacific Grove so that she can devote her full attention to Seaside.

Myers made this decision about a month after both city’s police officer associations voted that they have no confidence in her.

When we asked Myers about the votes of no confidence, she said it was one of the many reasons she is switching to solely focus on Seaside.

Shared Police Chief Quits P.G.