“It is humbling to stand out there and just have birds everywhere, and realize that you’re the person that’s supposed to identify them and put them into numbers,” Vilag told Rodriguez.
In this story, Rodriguez brings us into her world, sharing what it’s like to prepare for such a job, which has her out at Point Pinos for six weeks, six days a week, from sunrise to sunset. She also shares what motivates her to do this job, and how she stays focused.
Caught. Another Flock camera credit.
On November 13, 2025, at approximately 10:10 a.m., Monterey Police Officers responded to a reported hit-and-run collision near the intersection of Pacific Street and Scott Street. Witnesses described the involved vehicle as a white, four-door sedan.
Monterey detectives and officers continued searching for the driver. At approximately 2:40 p.m., they located the suspect at a business in the 300 block of Alvarado Street. He was identified as Jaishi Govinda, 24, of Salinas, California.
The investigation determined that Govinda had been driving west on Scott Street and turned south onto Pacific Street when he struck a pedestrian who was walking within the crosswalk on Pacific Street. After striking the victim, Govinda immediately fled the area. The victim sustained serious non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Govinda was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Monterey County Jail on a violation of California Vehicle Code §20001 – Hit and Run Causing Injury. His bail was set at $10,000.
PG has not won the shoe game in over ten years, did Carmel really need to carry this out?
The Carmel school district is looking into an allegation that one of its varsity football players offered to pay someone to injure a Pacific Grove player ahead of last week’s Shoe Game between the schools, the superintendent told The Pine Cone this week.
On Oct. 9, the mother of the P.G. High football player notified Carmel Unified Superintendent Sharon Ofek, head football coach Golden Anderson and principal Elizabeth Duethman of a social media post purportedly made by a Carmel High teenager offering “$80 to anyone who hurts” the P.G. teen.
‘We offset our carbon emissions by feeling really bad about them.’
Just literally spat my coffee out, bloody brilliant. 🤣😅🤭
Left Wing Airlines! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/k0UHknmOy1
— Benonwine (@benonwine) November 8, 2025
There sure are a lot of Megan’s Law entries in the area. Be careful if you visit.
A short distance from the VTC offices at Martinez Hall on former Fort Ord Army Base land in Marina, Lightfighter Village, at 229 Hayes Circle, provides 71 permanent rental homes for individuals earning between 30% and 50% of the area median income, with a special focus on those who have experienced homelessness.
“I don’t know of another organization that’s so interwoven throughout the county with veterans and homeless … they’re everywhere, and Kurt Schake, the current executive director, has been just amazing,” said Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado.
Pebble Beach steps up to reduce wildfires in its forests. Meanwhile in P.G. Washington Park the dead trees and weeds pile up.
Fire requires fuel to survive. For wildfires, this comes in the form of natural materials that burn, such as dead trees, fallen branches, shrubs and dry grasses. The District uses several methods to remove fuel sources that would otherwise stoke a fire.
Heavy equipment, called masticators, provides mechanical fuel reduction, removing and grinding heavy debris such as dead or fallen trees. Toppled trees are particularly common after major storms and form flammable pathways for fires to travel long distances.
Hand crews then clear vegetation known as ladder fuel, which forms a vertical path for fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. The resulting canopy fires burn hotter and spread faster than other types of fires, making them especially difficult to contain. By removing these fuels, crews remove a fire’s ladder to the canopy and keep flames closer to the ground. “We’ve taken them down to a couple feet. That’s our goal because those are easy to get,” says Trenner.
Giraffe. Stable. I see what you did there. Good reporting CPC.
A black BMW smashed through the front display window Of the Holman Building in Pacific Grove at lunchtime Wednesday. The driver was “treated at the scene for a complaint of pain and released,” according to Pacific Grove Police Cmdr. Brian Anderson. No one else was injured and the kitsch in the shop, including an approximately 6-foot giraffe wearing a racing saddle, appeared in stable condition.
Based on the angle of the crash, it appeared the driver had accelerated from a parking spot in front of the building. Two officers were overheard saying the driver had been ‘talking on her cell phone, but said she was using Bluetooth.”
Guess the lights were left off. Tear it down. COAST is butthurt that they did not get the building; they can take pictures of the “Scientific” murals for them to study.
Repeated acts of vandalism have left the former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building in Pacific Grove damaged, prompting community advocates to demand action for its protection.
Advocates are deeply concerned about the building’s condition, which has deteriorated under new ownership.
“It makes everybody feel so unsafe. In a community like this, it’s usually very safe. And it’s terrible when things happen to historic buildings,” Carol Young said.
The Center for Ocean, Art, Science, and Technology (COAST) is calling on the building’s owners to step up, saying the space needs to be properly maintained.
COAST also worries the mural on the building could be targeted next and say overgrown vegetation is creating more hazards around the property.
“The murals here are much more than beautiful art. They tell the science and culture of so many years of fisheries here, which were important to the basis of Pacific Grove,” a COAST member, Vicki Pearse, said.
About her money interest in the bar/club/record store that she voted to have a noise permit for.
After The Pine Cone covered the reporting lapse, Rau in late March submitted a new FPPC filing conceding her ownership of 215 Forest, which is worth more than $1 million, and annual rental income from Pop & Hiss of more than $100,000.
She also listed a $100,000 loan she got from a Pebble Beach resident, her $1 million-plus home on 19th Street, and various investments.An attorney for the city said in July that Rau “is not, and never has been, involved with the operations of the Pop & Hiss business.” However, a recent anonymous complaint sent to the FPPC claims the city’s portrayal of Rau’s connection to Pop & Hiss contradicts official paperwork for a limited liability company, Lovers Point Properties, Rau established in 2023. According to documents on file with the California Secretary of State, Rau was the company’s CEO, while her spouse Mary Walker and Pop & Hiss owner Michaela Kuenster were listed as “managers or members” of the LLC.
Tina Rau Comes Outhttps://carmelpinecone.com/251107PC.pdf
The Monterey Regional Monarch Alliance’s new website, MRMAlliance.org, is a one-stop shop for finding volunteer opportunities, educational resources, and information on creating monarch habitats.
“Everybody can make a difference,” says Dr. Emily Zefferman, an ecologist at the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County. “Some people might not have the ability to go volunteer, but maybe they can plant some native plants in their garden. Some people might not be able to do that because they’re renters, but they can join a community science project or they could educate other people about monarch butterflies.”