Katie Hazdovac, the 17-year-old Pacific Grove High School senior who won the Central Coast Idol competition earlier this month, did not make it to the second round of American Idol tryouts held Monday in Philadelphia.
Hazdovac was given a special audition with show producers, but was not chosen to go to the next round of tryouts. Hazdovac traveled with her mother Mary Hazdovac to Philadelphia. She was scheduled to return home today.
TripAdvisor Rates PG’s Top 25 Restaurants
TripAdvisor’s restaurant popularity ranks restaurants based on evaluations in guide books, articles and user opinions. The things people write are often amazing.
First Awakenings
Restaurant popularity: #1
entertaining bird population on the outside patio (unless you choose to use the squirt bottles)Red House Cafe
Restaurant popularity: #2
Been here a few times… wait’s always longPeppers Mexicali Cafe
Restaurant popularity: #3
that’s how they modify Mexican food for the gringos? And I never found the host particularly friendly.Joe Rombi’s La MIA Cucina
Restaurant popularity: #4
We especially like the rice ball appetizersThai Bistro
Restaurant popularity: #5
The ambiance could be more authentic but we go there for the food.Passionfish
Restaurant popularity: #6
Well, I guess the chef just loved it and so he figured we all must love it as well?Tillie Gort’s
Restaurant popularity: #7
customers seem to be locals. There isn’t anything fancy about their foodPetra Restaurant
Restaurant popularity: #8
They bill themselves as serving mediterranean dishes, but I think of them as Greek.Fifi’s Cafe & Bakery
Restaurant popularity: #9
Given the wealth of excellent restaurants in the area, I hope that the evening staff finds a way to make its patrons feel more welcome.Taste Cafe & Bistro
Restaurant popularity: #10
parking can be tight, but there’s plenty of space across the street in the Safeway parking lot.Fishwife at Asilomar Beach
Restaurant popularity: #11
served our entrees before we received our appetizer and our daughter received her entree 5-8 minutes after we did.Fandango Restaurant
Restaurant popularity: #12
We immediately sensed a snootiness about them: They did not acknowledge our presence for quite awhile and then they finally gave us the worst seat in the house!Savoirfare
Restaurant popularity: #13Vitos
Restaurant popularity: #14
Wonderful staff – all relatedAliotti’s Victorian Corner
Restaurant popularity: #15
We were walking through charming downtown Pacific Grove, and entered one restaurant, where we were promptly ignored for 10 minutes–while other tables were greeted with cheers!Zocalo
Restaurant popularity: #16
much more authentic than the silly, over-rated poseur place, PeppersCentral Avenue Bakery
Restaurant popularity: #17
vegan chocolate, pastries, cheese made from coconut milk.Archie’s American Diner
Restaurant popularity: #18
my fish-n-chips were overcooked. But that didn’t bother me as much as the flies.Toasties Cafe
Restaurant popularity: #19
after I “got rid of” the crab cakes I started to recover.. I told her that I wasn’t trying to accuse her of anything but I just didn’t want anybody else to get hurt- especially a child. She was extremely defensive and didn’t listen.Grove Bistro
Restaurant popularity: #20
If you don’t like alcohol, you might still like the food.Cellar Door Chop Shoppe
Restaurant popularity: #21
Hand embroidered flavors, really.Melange
Restaurant popularity: #22
beet & goat cheese salad,Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant
Restaurant popularity: #23
They serve huge burritos with the best tasting beans I’ve had in a long timeFavaloro’s Big Night Bistro
Restaurant popularity: #24
owner came running out of the kitchen shouting that the certificates were fake. I heard the owner say to his wife as I was leaving that “he might have made a mistake”… still, no apology, and I would never recommend the place to anyone.Lattitudes at Lover’s Point
Restaurant popularity: #25
The food is just ordinary but carries extraordinary prices. You’d be better off going to KFC and carrying a bucket of chicken to the park across the street (Lover’s Point) to take in the view.
Summer Reading Offers
Detective Lisa Spurlock has a problem. It’s 1972, and she’s working to solve the murder of a teacher of Russian in the small coastal community of Pacific Grove, California, while at the same time coping with the chauvinistic viewpoints of some of her male cohorts. In the course of her investigation, Lisa learns a few things about Russians and their language, about her fellow police officers, and about surviving as a woman in a traditionally masculine domain.
Holman Highway Improvements Starting
The Transportation Agency for Monterey County has announced that work will begin sometime in September on improvements to the entrance to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula from Holman Highway.
The project will include the addition of a left turn lane out of the hospital and additional through lanes.
Make it 4 lanes all the way!
Samson Locked Out Of Dog Friendly P.G.
P.G.’s first ever hearing to ban an animal from town. Is this too much time spent on a non-event?
The black lab that fatally mauled a TV anchorwoman’s Maltese in Pacific Grove will be banned for life from the city and must attend a behavior modification program, a hearing officer determined this week.
The dog was returned to its Southern California owners Thursday, according the P.G. police department.
Garcia encouraged Samson’s owners, Donna Marie Bazan and her father, Donald Armstrong, to pay all veterinary costs Ospina incurred for Lulu and those associated with a bite she received to her left forearm in the attack.At the Aug. 16 hearing, which was believed to be the first of its kind in the city, Armstrong offered to pay those bills. But there could also be other costs.
“It is strongly encouraged, should Ospina decide to get another dog,” Garcia noted, “the cost of the new dog and initial vaccinations are to be paid by Bazan.”
Two Arrested On Fountain
Aaron Lynch, 21 and Jon Lanite, 20, were arrested Wednesday in connection with the theft of a purse from a locked vehicle Aug. 16 in the 200 block of Fountain Avenue in Pacific Grove.
Witnesses described the suspects and vehicle involved in the theft, police said. A search warrant was served and executed with the assistance of Monterey police.
Seniors May Be Allowed To Move Into FHM
Having to sell a perfectly good home to move into FHM. Oh the stress that must be bringing.
A lawsuit was filed by Forest Hill Manor to try to compel the city to allow the units to be occupied.
Now, at the request of Forest Hill, P.G. is considering granting temporary occupancy, which would allow residents to move in on condition Forest Hill completes its south-wing project and agrees to other conditions.
“If that is the case, that is very encouraging,” cottage resident hopeful Ted Hollister, 76, said Wednesday upon learning of the development.
“We can’t put our house on the market, which we have to do in order to move in,” said Hollister, who intends to move in to one of the cottages with his wife, Georgia. “We can’t afford to keep our house and move in there also.”
One Man Faction Against John Denver Memorial
“It’s going to [cause] parking problems, traffic congestion at that corner,” Peter Alene told council members . . . This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the plane crash that killed the singer. He was flying an experimental aircraft Oct. 12, 1997, when he crashed about 200 yards off the coast near the P.G. lighthouse . . . . Jon Biggs, the city’s community development director, said the architectural review board already approved the memorial. “And nobody showed up” to protest it, Cort said.
Traffic? Oh come on. Peter Alene appears to be another one of P.G.’s cranky “No Fun Allowed” fringe. Ocean View Boulevard is packed with traffic year round. The memorial is nothing but a plaque stuck to a rock.
DA Seeks Death Penalty In Olinger Murder
Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo has decided to seek the death penalty against homicide defendant Jacobo Ruelas, a county prosecutor confirmed Wednesday.
Ruelas’ younger brother, Angel Ruelas, faces the same charge as Jacobo, but cannot face the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the slaying. He could face life without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Kristopher Olinger
Got The Brown Apple Moth Spraying Scare?
Some residents said they were alarmed to learn that three fix-winged planes will spray over a 60-square-mile area from Marina to Pacific Grove for three days beginning Sept. 5. The application will begin at 8 p.m. each day and continue throughout the night, weather permitting.
State officials said they will monitor soil samples during the night to make sure the pheromone was applied properly.
Seaside environmental justice activist LeVonne Stone was passing out fliers showing health warnings printed on the manufacturer’s labels for CheckMateOLR-F, one of two synthetic pheromones to be used.
Does anyone have the manufactures’ health warning for the human waste in the sand at Lovers Point? Now there’s something to be afraid of . .