Can Contamination Be Controlled?
E. coli outbreaks in fresh produce coincide with the push for volume, variety and year-round supplies.
Just after 9 on a frigid January morning in 2007, nearly six months after the disastrous E. coli outbreaks in bagged spinach, some 200 vegetable farmers and shippers, tailed by a small army of reporters ...
Issues / 2008 / Jun 19
Just In
Big Sur Burning
Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies evacuated some 75 residences and businesses beginning Saturday, June 21 between Partington Ridge and Graves Canyon in Big Sur—and the Basin Complex Fire rages on, along with other wildfires burning near ...
Carmel Beach Reopened
Carmel Beach was reopened as of Thursday, June 26, after being closed two days earlier by the Monterey County Health Department. Officials had detected unsafe bacteria levels at the beach, and had posted warning signs ...
Salinas Appoints New City Manager
The Salinas City Council on June 24 appointed Artie Fields as the new city manager. Fields, 45, was assistant city manager for West Covina before accepting Salinas’ top post, for which he will earn $205,000 ...
Fire Season Arrives Early, Firefighters Stretched Statewide
A rare summer thunderstorm blew through much of Northern California on Saturday, sparking numerous fires in the already parched region. As of June 24, firefighters were battling 32 large fires in the state and the ...
Comedian George Carlin Dies at 71; 'Seven Dirty Words' became Important Free Speech Supreme Court Case in 1978
Watch Video Funnyman George Carlin died Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital after being admitted for chest pains. Carlin had an illustrious 50-year career as a Grammy-winning comedian, and as a lightening rod for free ...
LBAM Spraying Canceled
The California Department of Food and Agriculture on June 19 canceled plans to spray synthetic pheromone products over California counties in an effort to eradicate the invasive light brown apple moth (LBAM). The CDFA and ...
Top Bebop
Greg Abate quietly evolves his vigorous sound.
The musical language of bebop is more than 60 years old, but in the hands of saxophonist Greg Abate, it sounds as urgent and fresh as a news flash. While he’s not a big-name player, ...
The Right Path
Gilson Gap is a great way to enjoy the best things about Toro Park.
French impressionist painter Claude Monet once said, “The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.” Claude would’ve liked Toro Park. From its breathing canvas burst buzzing cicadas, ruby-red dragonflies, purple teacup ...
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Heavy Stuff: The heft of the steroids documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster is found in the filmmaker’s interactions with his drug-using siblings.
Errol Morris’s acclaimed 1978 documentary The Gates of Heaven is foremost about pet cemeteries– but evolves into an intimate story about love, death and the “American dream.” Steve James’ 1994 Hoop Dreams is about the ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): We’re halfway through 2008. It’s a perfect moment to take inventory of how well you’re capitalizing on this year’s unique opportunities. So let me ask you, Aries: Are you working your ...
Public Citizen
6|19 THURS FORA COMMUNITY WORKSHOP | MARINA– Fort Ord Reuse Authority hosts a workshop to discuss current work along General Jim Moore Boulevard and Eucalyptus Roads and cleanup programs. Snacks and beverages provided. Reservations requested. ...
P.G. Re-Run
Former councilwoman Susan Goldbeck announces City Council candidacy.
Former Pacific Grove city councilwoman Susan Goldbeck has announced her plan to run for City Council– again. Goldbeck served on the council from 2002 to 2006 but lost her 2006 bid for mayor. The terms ...
Speaking In Numbers
The Weekly Tally
$6,200 Money saved annually by a two-person, one-car household that uses public transportation, compared with a household that doesn’t use public transportation. national dump the pump day– an event encouraging people to use public transit ...
What’s your biggest fear?
Asked at Pebble Beach Market in Pebble Beach.
Follow-up: Do food scares affect your eating habits? BRIAN HARTY | Salinas | Farrier A: My biggest fear right now is that John McCain will get elected as president— so I guess you could say ...
Salmonella, Pork Bellies and Scary-Good BLTs
Making sense of the latest food crisis– and making a damn good sandwich.
Rarely does a week pass these days without another food scare or outbreak of contamination in our modern industrialized food system. This year alone we’ve had a beef recall (thanks to the documented slaughter of ...
IRVIN MAYFIELD & ELLIS MARSALIS
Love Songs, Ballads and Standards
The concept is solid: Pair pianist and master teacher Ellis Marsalis with a young, immensely talented former trumpet student, Irvin Mayfield, whose shared stalwart defense and promotion of jazzís purest sense of history makes them ...
Deep Cover
Kurt Burkhart reveals exciting, surprising and largely secret projects.
Local music enthusiasts probably think of Kurt Burkhart as that guy who sits on a stool in bars like Britannia Arms and does well-received cover songs by artists like the Beatles and Jack Johnson. They’d ...
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The only negative thing about Nick Cave’s latest opus of degradation and hope is the vulgar excess of punctuation in the title. Otherwise, this record is among the best in an oeuvre that is threatening ...
Getting Things Straight
A day’s worth of drama– from protests to long-awaited wedding papers– help local gays find some peace.
This isn’t what locals expect to see as they drive to lunch in downtown Monterey. A twentysomething jumps from the curb shouting, “Hey Wonderbread man! Honk for gay marriage!” Behind her, dozens of protesters hold ...
News Updates 6-19-08
THE WINNER IS… Results are in from last weekend’s 28th annual Sunshine Surfabout. Zach Downing won in the open longboard and open bodyboard events, and took home the Waterman Award, the prize awarded to the ...
AL GREEN
Lay It Down
Although he reunited with famed producer Willie Mitchell for his previous two albums, legendary R&B singer Al Green has delved into the world of neo-soul to create his latest CD, and the resulting songs sound ...
¡Ask A Mexican! for Jun 19, 2008
One man's take on his culture's stereotypes
Dear Mexican: I read your column every week and notice your ongoing theme of pushing for “immigration reform.” I realize your concern for your compadres, but what of those of us who see that our ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$3,200,000 Recent Sale 4 Northeast Lincoln St., Monterey Built: 1987 Size: 1,905 square feet Features: 3 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms, 2 stories, 1-car garage Amenities: 2 floor-to-ceiling fireplaces, gourmet kitchen with pizza oven and floor-to-ceiling windows Seller: ...
Another cold war is brewing between the U.S. and Russia.
Neither of the presidential candidates has seriously addressed Russia’s singular capacity to endanger or enhance our national security. Overshadowed by the U.S. disaster in Iraq, Moscow’s importance will continue long after that war ends. Despite ...
IRVIN MAYFIELD&ELLIS MARSALIS
Love Songs, Ballads and Standards
The concept is solid: Pair pianist and master teacher Ellis Marsalis with a young, immensely talented former trumpet student, Irvin Mayfield, whose shared stalwart defense and promotion of jazzís purest sense of history makes them ...
Sinking Ship
A federal bankruptcy judge appoints a trustee to right Cedar Funding.
On Tuesday, June 17, a federal bankruptcy judge appointed trustee Todd Neilson to take over the sinking investment firm Cedar Funding Inc. from owner David Nilsen. Neilson is a director at LECG, a global expert ...
NICK CAVE&THE BAD SEEDS
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The only negative thing about Nick Cave’s latest opus of degradation and hope is the vulgar excess of punctuation in the title. Otherwise, this record is among the best in an oeuvre that is threatening ...
Letters to the Editor for Jun 19, 2008
LOVE FROM AFAR For the past five years I have driven by the horse facility at Fort Ord [“Barnyard Brawl,” June 5-11]. I make it a habit to glance over at the horses when I ...
LAFCO Board considers C.V. incorporation– maybe.
From the looks of things, Local Agency Formation Commission board members like to keep up their aura of mystery– although some might call their behavior nonsensical, as well as unexplained. Either way, it adds to ...
Food chain
Cool It
TOO HOT TO HANDLE… Fires seem to be spontaneously combusting nearby and around the state. It looks like we are headed for a difficult, fire-filled year unless we miraculously receive a few straight weeks of ...
Home Page
Craftsman-style home maintains warmth and charm near Peters Gate.
Jane Bradford, a well-known Carmel artist with the wryest of wit, has lived in Old Monterey bordering Peters Gate for 28 years. In fact, her home was built in 1943 for the son of Charles ...
Squid Fry for Jun 19, 2008
Squid Fry for Jun 19, 2008
PANTIES IN A BUNCH… Squid would just like to put one out there for the right to wear scanty clothes. A Seaside police note details the recent arrest of a man who was strutting around ...
Tree Whisperers
Friends of Carmel Forest scores more room in city budget for seedling care.
An old Monterey cypress takes the shape of the wind, dark branches framing Carmel Beach. The image graces photographers’ portfolios, travel blogs and visitors guides. Carmel-by-the-Sea’s stately cypresses and pines are icons of the “village ...
Devil’s Fruit
Strawberry production booms in Monterey County– and so does pesticide use.
While strawberries rose to Monterey County’s number two crop last year, residents living next to the sweet-smelling berry fields reported a higher number of illnesses stemming from the crop’s favored fumigants. Fifty-five people reported symptoms ...
Art Listings for Jun 19, 2008
Art Listings for Jun 19, 2008
OPENING THIS WEEK carmel art association Birds of a Feather: various depictions of birds. Dolores and Fifth, Carmel. 624-6176. wave street studios Found art by Jeff Sax, opening reception 7:30pm, 6/22. 774 Wave St., Monterey. ...
Talk about immigration lacking in presidential campaign.
More than 20 people were arrested in Seaside, Salinas and Watsonville last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The arrests came about one week after an immigration raid at a kosher meatpacking plant in ...
Biting The Big Apple
Local playwright-professor takes on N.Y.C. theater.
Allston James, a local playwright who taught writing and specialized in Shakespeare and American Literature at MPC for 28 years, is on the move. Last month his latest work, a full-length play called The Lated ...
Get Smart
Losing Control: Get Smart gets stupid by following the template of the ’60s television series too closely.
As a 21st-century American over the age of six, I understand that the answer to why Hollywood does anything is almost always “money.” For example, why would a studio launch a movie version of “Get ...
