Back To The Future For Custom House Plaza?

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Custom House

Monterey Principal Planner Elizabeth Caraker stands next to a drab stone fountain and points past the bocce courts at dead-end Scott Street. Under the city’s transportation and parking study, released in March, Scott would be extended as a through-street – cutting through what today is a wharf parking lot. Alvarado would be extended to the middle of the plaza.

The plan was completed mostly with $300,000 in grant funding from the Monterey Bay Air Pollution Control District and Caltrans by San Jose-based consultants Fehr & Peers. It also calls for converting all of downtown’s one-way streets into two-ways.

“I’ve been in the business since 1987, and even with all of that experience, it’s always a challenge to find your way around Monterey,” Fehr & Peers Principal Rob Rees says. “It’s a very confusing place.”

I always liked that downtown was a maze of one way streets and intersections that are not perpendicular. Keeps the out of town-ers (like Rob Rees) cautious and less likely to run stop signs. The plaza should remain as is, maybe a few more trees for shade. And turn the fountain back into a fountain.

Back To The Future For Custom House Plaza?

Annual Springtime News – Beaches Polluted

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Lovers Point Beach Sand

Six beaches in Carmel, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, and Monterey were placed under water hazard advisories Tuesday afternoon due to high bacteria levels found in samples taken from the ocean.

The public is urged to not have ocean water contact at the following six beaches:

Monterey Municipal Beach, Monterey
San Carlos Beach, Monterey
Lovers Point, Pacific Grove
Asilomar Beach at Sunset Drive, Pacific Grove
Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach
Carmel Beach at Ocean Avenue, Carmel

Annual Springtime News – Beaches Polluted

97 Year Old Dies Crossing Pine

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Pine Avenue

A 97-year-old Pacific Grove man died at a hospital after being hit by a car in an intersection early Wednesday, police said.

Police called to Pine Avenue and 19th Street about 7:45 a.m. found the man semi-conscious with apparent head injuries.

The driver, a 55-year-old Pacific Grove resident, told police at the scene that he was driving east on Pine, looking directly into the rising sun and couldn’t see the pedestrian.

97 Year Old Dies Crossing Pine

Environmental Programs Manager Is Shocked SHOCKED That Residents Don’t Want A Swamp On Their Street

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Save the city more money – Fire Sarah Hardgrave. And it’s pretty stupid to call it’s tracking system a “Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program” when people are living next to it.

Bridge Over Swamp

The city of Pacific Grove is dropping a wetland-based, clean-water project fiercely opposed by neighbors who said it would create a smelly swamp in a friendly neighborhood park.

“We’re going to take the neighbors’ suggestions … and look to make repairs to the storm drain upstream,” said Sarah Hardgrave, the city’s environmental programs manager, on Wednesday.

Hardgrave, who still sounded shaken by the reception some project opponents gave her at the March 28 meeting, said, “The vehemence of the opponents made it clear the city wasn’t going to successfully” pursue the project.


Environmental Programs Manager Is Shocked SHOCKED That Residents Don’t Want A Swamp On Their Street

Driver In Pebble Beach Crash Has A Record

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13 tickets in 9 years.

Luls that his social networking accounts vanished after the news hit.

Elder was booked into Monterey County Jail early Monday on charges of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.

He was released from custody about noon after posting $430,000 in bail, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said.

A computer index of Monterey County court records show Elder received 13 traffic citations between 2003 and 2012. Records from a single criminal case dating to November 2000 were no longer available after December 2007, the index said.

Messages touting two after-parties following the Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, including photos of the crowds in attendance, were posted from ECI Building’s Twitter account several days before the collision.

One dated Thursday, the event’s opening night, read, “After party crazy!!!”

Another was dated shortly after midnight early Saturday.

The festival ended early Sunday afternoon, several hours before the fatal crash, and it is not known if Elder attended that day.

His LinkedIn and Twitter pages were taken down Monday.

Driver In Pebble Beach Crash Has A Record

2 Dead In Pebble Beach Crash

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P.G. man charged with DUI.

A Pacific Grove man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after a traffic collision Sunday in Pebble Beach killed two people in the other car.

They were in a 2005 Ford that collided head-on with a 2009 Cadillac driven by Stuart Elder, 30, of Pacific Grove, the CHP said.

The Cadillac was headed south on Sloat Road just north of Bird Rock Road about 7:30 p.m. when, for an unknown reason, it crossed over into the opposing lane and into the path of the Ford, the CHP said.

The victims in the Ford were dead at the scene, the CHP said.

2 Dead In Pebble Beach Crash

The Pacific Grove Mobile App Is Here

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Announced in January it is now online and available. An unnamed economic development manager told KSBW that it is of its kind that’s being utilized in our entire region. Sold by a company in Las Vegas, this is a cookie cutter program that also was sold to Needles and Mendota (there’s the Fresno Connection again).

Quite the beta – I installed it on an Android phone, so I cannot comment on iOS version. It’s free to download, but is costing the city $300 per month. Hope they are not being asked to pay until it is worth the cost…
PG App Error Sorry

It was quite slow, my impatient tapping on the screen waiting for the ‘News’ feature caused the above crash screen. The home page was graphically messed up until after said crash.
PG App Home

The City Hall screen offers up tiny pictures of the elected politicos. Though all but one have their faces squeezed. Why the long face, Mayor Kampe?
PG App City Leaders

Under “Departments” it offers a list of email addresses with no names. So the app comes with a bonus Puzzle Feature.
PG App Contact

Another tab for “Services” grants bonus level of the Puzzle Feature.
PG App Services

Don’t forge the “Calendar”. Oops, the calendar forgets to include a City Council meeting on April 17th as well as every Farmers Market.
PG App Calendar

Valuable to the citizens is a News feature that crams three feeds on the screen in a ridiculously small font. Read the Facebooks and Tweeters extolling the app and an unnamed RSS feed that will get updated someday.
PG App News

Since there is no bad news to upset one’s digestion, we can bring up a list of Dining adventures. Don’t know how to change the sorting – tapping here and there just makes it crash. It would be more useful if it was listed A to Z or by distance from my position.
PG App Dining

Perhaps cheered by most P.G. gadflies is the “Report An Issue” portion. One can pick from a list of concerns:
pg app report an issue 1

Then nail down a location based on one’s latitude/longitude and take pictures or videos of said concern. Where would excessive sea gull poop or uncovered restaurant garbage be entered?
pg app report

Finally, the weather. I’m trying to figure this out – reported at 11:00 pm it was telling me the Current weather was 70 degrees and 5:27 am. Is the clock as broken as the weather gage? 70 in PG is unusual though even more unlikely at either sunrise or an hour before midnight.
pg app weather

If that’s not hot enough, Saturday it will reach 80!
pg app forecast

Not recommended, no one should have took this turkey out of the oven until it’s done. Back to the drawing board MyCommunity Mobile of Las Vegas.

Lighthouse & Forest Avenue’s New Look Leaves Many Underwhelmed

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Going to take some getting used to..
Curb Corner Cut
pacificgrove.com

Grove Market owner Charlie Higuera said he lost $80,000 during the course of the construction work because customers went to other local markets to buy groceries.

“That’s big time,” Higuera said.

And, he said, the Grove Market customers he’s spoken to are underwhelmed with the new intersection.

“Everybody I’ve talked to so far, they say ‘I can’t believe it, is that what they did?’” Higuera said.

. . the grand opening ceremony on April 10 will feature Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe driving a car through the intersection as well as speakers, music and light refreshments, according to the city.

COG 377
www.93950.com/cog

Lighthouse & Forest Avenue’s New Look Leaves Many Underwhelmedd

Le Normandie Ihors de l’entreprise

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Kick ’em while they are down.

Normandie

Le Normandie in Pacific Grove abruptly shut down two weeks ago, leaving many in the community confused as to why.

The Lighthouse Avenue restaurant in the Holman Building was owned by Christine and Francis Richard — previous owners of now- shuttered Chez Christine in Carmel and Bistro Christine in Monterey — and family friend Nancy Lewis.

“We’re done opening restaurants,” Christine Richard said Thursday. “… I’ve had it.”

Landlord Nadir Agha (who knows a thing or two about lies)

Agha said he made the decision to kick out the owners after he said he found out Christine Richard was lying about the sale of her mother’s home in France — money she allegedly told him she would use to buy the restaurant.

“She still owes us the $40,000,

Here’s a Moe Quote to add to the list of Stupid Things Moe Says:

Ammar believes the Richards are unethical and said in his 20 years with the chamber he has not witnessed “such bad business dealings” as he has with the pair.

Le Normandie Ihors de l’entreprise

Are Public Comments At The Council Meetings Being Moved?

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Most interesting part of the meetings, IMO

The council also will consider whether changes are needed in the “norms and protocols” for council interaction with the public.

City Manager Thomas Frutchey says in a report the issue may need review given “considerable frustration and anger” expressed by small groups of residents over issues like fast-food restaurants and pensions.

Are Public Comments At The Council Meetings Being Moved?