About That $141,530 Measure To Raise More Than $141,530

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David Henderson In The Wall Street Journal.

In a 1968 article in the Journal of Law and Economics, James R. Schlesinger— later defense secretary under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and energy secretary under President Jimmy Carter—wrote: “The tool of politics (which frequently becomes its objective) is to extract resources from the general taxpayer with minimum offense and to distribute the proceeds among innumerable claimants in such a way as to maximize support at the polls. Politics, so far as mobilizing support is concerned, represents the art of calculated cheating—or more precisely how to cheat without being really caught.”

The good news is that the Pacific Grove residents who alerted me to this have caught the cheaters. Is it too late? Time will tell.

About That $141,530 Measure To Raise More Than $141,530

Council Spends $140,000 To Find More Money

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What kind of wild hiss quackery is this? Say no if you get polled.

City Hall

The Pacific Grove City Council has approved paying a consultant more than $140,000 of taxpayers’ money to come up with ways to collect more from taxpayers.

After councilmembers in May gave themselves a 130 percent pay hike to significant public criticism, the group Transparent Pacific Grove led a successful citizen referendum to challenge the raise — something noted by former city councilman and group leader Luke Coletti in a Nov. 29 letter to the city. “As you know, Pacific Grove voters recently rejected [the pay raise] through the referendum process, clearly expressing opposition to increasing council compensation,” Coletti wrote. “This makes the inclusion of council stipends within a taxpayer-funded consulting contract especially concerning.”

Council Spends $140,000 To Find More Money

Electric Cars No Longer Get HOV Lane Passes

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Carpool lanes – I remember them being a way to reduce the number of cars coming into big cities and a bit of the reductions of exhaust.

no access

Bad news, electric vehicle owners. Starting Monday morning, one of California’s longest-running incentives for people to buy electric cars — a program that provided access to carpool lanes regardless of how many people are in a zero-emission vehicle — is coming to end.

The Clean Air Vehicle decal program expired Oct. 1, after Republican leaders in Congress and the Trump administration declined to reauthorize the federal law that allowed it.

Two months ago, the California Highway Patrol gave motorists across the state a 60-day grace period until Dec. 1. That’s Monday. The CHP says it will begin writing tickets for solo EV drivers who are in carpool lanes during restricted times from here on out.

Electric Cars No Longer Get HOV Lane Passes

McLaren Window Smasher Just Might Be Not Right In The Head

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But Samuel Shaffer is right enough to be released on OR?

Samuel Shaffer

The 31 year old Pacific Grove man accused of smashing the windshields of two expensive British sportscars in Carmel during Car Week may not be mentally fit to stand trial, according to a filing in Monterey County Superior Court, but Samuel Shaffer can remain out of custody on his own recognizance until the next hearing, which is scheduled for February 2026.

McLaren Window Smasher Just Might Be Not Right In The Head

Injected Artistry Inc Settles Penalty

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Remember Martha Vasquez that got 15 years for the death of a client?

Injected Artistry

The owners, Starr and Slovenski, on behalf of themselves and their corporate business, agreed to pay a total of $45,000 in civil penalties and costs to resolve this matter and are prohibited from making any false claims regarding their treatments and must ensure good-faith examinations are to the standards required under California law

Injected Artistry Inc Settles Penalty

Bamboo Reef Closes

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Seal Posse contributes to the fall of a business that’s been here since 1961.

Bamboo Reef

According to the company’s website, both the Monterey and San Francisco locations closed after 64 years in operation

“There’s a lot happening in the scuba world right now on the California coast,” says John Richardson, owner of Monterey Bay Scuba Diving, LLC, the parent company of Monterey Bay Scuba. Richardson observes a similar trend of shrinking in neighboring Santa Cruz County: “They went from four shops down to one-and-a-half in just the last five years.” Richardson says he is not sure why so many dive shops have recently gone out of business, but he thinks it may be due to oversaturation for low-populated beach communities. He adds that repeated beach closures due to thousands of sea lions congregating at San Carlos Beach in Monterey, a popular scuba spot, might have contributed to a local industry slowdown.

Bamboo Reef Closes

FPPC Complaint Filed Over Tina’s Vote

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Tina Big Jacket

 

A vote by Pacific Grove Councilmember Tina Rau in favor of pursuing a possible ordinance to raise the decibel levels at entertainment venues that sell alcohol is currently under investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, based on a complaint filed by three residents. Rau owns a building in downtown P.G. that houses the popular bar and music venue Pop & Hiss.

Rau says she reviewed her eligibility to participate in the vote with Mayor Nick Smith, City Manager Matt Mogensen and City Attorney Brian Pierik ahead of the meeting on March 19. Pierik informed her there was no conflict of interest.

Aside from Rau’s vote, the complaint filed on March 29 also includes concerns about the accuracy of the agenda report and asks whether all procedures were properly followed, among other concerns. It was filed by retired attorney Jane Haines, along with former mayor Carmelita Garcia and resident John Miller.

Councilmember Joe Amelio brought the proposed measure forward on March 19, asking the council to raise the allowable music decibel level from 70 decibels to 80. Rau was part of the four-member majority that voted in favor of asking Pierik to come back to the council with a proposed ordinance at a later date.

FPPC Complaint Filed Over Tina’s Vote

Since 1984 The Hyperbaric Chamber Saving Lives

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All volunteer operation seeking more volunteers. To apply fill out a form at the city’s website.

HyChamber

The chamber is essential for treating pressure-related issues, including decompression sickness, arterial gas embolism and high-altitude sickness. However, it’s also a life-saving tool in treating carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Director of the Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber Justin Cooper, who also works separately as a division chief for the Monterey Fire Department. As the cold weather sets in, more people are turning on their heaters. These pose a risk for carbon monoxide poisoning and Cooper urges residents to check that their heaters, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.

Since 1984 The Hyperbaric Chamber Saving Lives

Yesterday’s Rape Whistles Are Now ICE Whistles

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Because a stupid obstruction arrest can add honor to the anarchists.

“It doesn’t really matter the size of the city, because our whistles are very loud, and they can be heard up to two miles away,” says Megan Whilden, one of the organizers.

Jack Holmgren, a former immigration attorney and Carmel resident, spearheaded Whistlemania locally, saying a whistle is a tool people can use to alert others of ICE presence in real time. “It’s also a tool that can be used for nonviolent, civil disobedient resistance by the community that doesn’t have any concern about documentation,” Holmgren adds.

Over 70 volunteers showed up, including Monterey Mayor Tyller Williamson and County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew.

the choirboys

Spermwhale Whalen had sold the most whistles on the night-watch, six in fact. But actually he had bought them himself and given them to his favorite streetwalking whores with the instruction that if they ever had a slow evening and felt like giving away a free blowjob to an old pal just to pucker on the whistle when 7-A-l came cruising by.
There was not a recorded case of a radio car in the vast and crowded district ever hearing a distress whistle, but it was said that the whistle saved the property of one woman on La Cienega Boulevard when a purse snatcher almost fell to the sidewalk in a giggling fit at the sight of a sixty year old matron in a chinchilla coat blowing a little plastic whistle until her face looked like a rotten strawberry.
— Joseph Wambaugh, The Choirboys.

Yesterday’s Rape Whistles Are Now ICE Whistles