PLOT OF LAND
The Big Sur Land Trust revisits its mission.
All one can recall are the delicious wheat biscuits. Another remembers “some good salads and a lot of roasted vegetables.” A third surviving founder of the Big Sur Land Trust says the only thing that ...
plain talk
Big Sur Land Trust gives the Carr Lake project in Salinas a renewed lease on life.
As long as the Big Sur Land Trust has endeavored to preserve the area’s lands and waters, a tantalizing conservation opportunity has lurked just out of reach for the county’s biggest city. Carr Lake, a ...
acting naturally
BSLT stands by the Big Sur community.
Sitting outside BSLT’s Glen Deven Ranch, Laura Diamondstone would simmer native wild flowers, pine pitch and redwood silt she scavenged nearby, releasing their fragrances into the night air, where they were joined by a hooting ...
Slideshow
A look at BLST's two landmark properties, Mitteldorf Preserve and Glen Deven Ranch.
Big Sur Land Trust celebrated its 30th anniversary by announcing a reconstituted mission that focuses on expanding access to its conserved lands to more members of the wider community. As part of that effort, they ...
bailout plan
BSLT works to restore the lower Carmel River floodplain.
The Carmel River begins simply enough in the Santa Lucia Mountains. But 36 miles later, as it approaches the sea, it flows into an obstacle course of farms, neighborhoods, golf courses, shopping centers, gravel mines, ...
Issues / 2008 / Dec 18
Wall Street Journal profiles Pacific Grove as a “precursor” to other cities dropping out of the state pension fund.
A Dec. 18 article in The Wall Street Journal examines the financial burden the California Public Employees Retirement System places on participating cities during the recession. The poster child for the CalPERS meltdown: Monterey County’s ...
County's Unemployment Rate Reaches 8.8 percent
Monterey County's unemployment rate grew to 8.8 percent in November, up from 7.1 percent in October, according to state job figures released this morning. The county lost 7,400 jobs, primarily in the seasonal farm industry, ...
Obama picks former Aquarium trustee to head NOAA
Greenhouse gases beware: former Monterey Bay Aquarium trustee, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, a vocal scientist in the fight against global warming, will lead the nation’s principal ocean agency. President-elect Barack Obama named Lubchenco as National Oceanic ...
Militant Passion
An aggressive Bayonet and Black Horse redesign reveals new views and great greens.
In 1945 a young artillery corporal named Mike Napolitano had returned from frontline duty in the European theater and was about to be transferred to Fort Ord in California, where he would be retrained and ...
A Christmas Tale
French Laundry: The holidays are a time to air grievances in the French film A Christmas Tale.
In Christmas movies, the spirit of the season inevitably trumps the personal conflicts that bedevil the characters. Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale feels like a yuletide miracle in reverse: Christmas remains in the background, no ...
Diamond in the Rough
Local singer salutes Cat Stevens.
Local musician Bryan Diamond remembers the first time that he heard the music of Cat Stevens. It was the last days of junior high school, and his then-girlfriend brought over the 1970 Stevens album Tea ...
A disappointing agriculture appointment by Obama.
The Secretary of Agriculture directs the USDA, setting governmental policy on food safety, labeling, farm subsidies, biofuels, genetically modified foods, school lunch programs, workers rights and other aspects of food and agriculture. Last May, when ...
Letters to the Editor for Dec 18, 2008
TOUGH LOVE, NOT HATE The people of Pacific Grove, myself included, were inspired by the excellent and often thankless job done by former P.G. council member Dan Davis on the PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) ...
Stretching a Buck
Monterey and Pacific Grove consider sharing services to save money.
Sharing– it’s not just for the playground anymore. As Monterey (and just about every other city in the state) struggles to fix its financial woes, leaders consider sharing a police chief, top building official, and ...
Why no black Santas?
Asked at Marina’s Dunes Shopping Center.
Follow-up: What is the worst thing to put in someone’s stocking? NAZARIE WHIPPLE | Health Care Instructor | Salinas A: That’s not important around here because the black population is 4.2 percent. We could find ...
Art Listings for Dec 18, 2008
Art Listings for Dec 18, 2008
CONTINUING EXHIBITS @ Risk Postcards from Rumi: works by Robert Smith. 14 Soledad St., Salinas. 776-8038. alvarado gallery Journeys Through the Lens: photography. Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey. 646-5648. alternative café Pieced Together: ...
¡Ask A Mexican! for Dec 18, 2008
One man's take on his culture's stereotypes
Dear Readers: A couple of columnas ago, I published a short list of my favorite books regarding Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and urged ustedes to submit better choices so that gabachos can have a Christmas shopping ...
Bread lines and bad times in the auto industry.
It’s easy to get pissed off at the Big Three automakers. For years they refused to see what was coming, insisting on making cars that were unsafe, environmentally unsound and unpopular with customers, getting their ...
Disc the Halls
A DVD gift guide to a hilarious holiday.
The economic downturn threatens to make 2008 one of the tightest Christmases ever. With a goal of making spirits bright, light-hearted DVD gifts may be bona fide necessities rather than luxuries. The following suggested comedies ...
Updates
BUSH EPA RETREATS… Our story on the Bush administration’s “midnight regulations” – industry-friendly policies finalized in the 11th hour Bush presidency – mentioned two of the controversial rule changes: one allowing power plants to be ...
Big Deals
Great sandwiches, new spots and then some.
These are not the places where the lady in the Lexus stops for lunch. They’re the spots for the guys in the truck looking to stretch a buck. Recession-friendly Randy’s Sandwiches (375-9161, http://randyssandwichshop.com/) chugs along ...
The Tale of Despereaux
Rat Pack: An impressive array of animated characters inhabits The Tale of Despereaux.
Haven’t we heard this one before? Cute, French-inflected, animated rodents running around kitchens and getting into comic scrapes for essentially noble reasons? Last year’s Ratatouille used that formula successfully in the story of a misunderstood ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): What I foresee for you in 2009 is an upgrade in your approach to creating and maintaining your alliances. I envision you having dramatically enhanced intuition about how to connect with ...
Ripe Pair
Two Seaside civil rights champions celebrate 70 years of marriage.
"I first saw Evelyn at mass. She was this red-headed gal, three pews ahead,” Cecil Bindell says. “I told my friend Herbert, who was sitting next to me, ‘That’s gonna be my wife.’” Seventy years ...
Online Adventures
Digital audio commandeers the 2008 hit parade.
Hey, it’s the season when “Best of’’ Lists prevail. It’s been a year of change, from politics to Wall Street (not to mention the auto industry) so it should come as no surprise that the ...
The Pupusa’s Loose
Learning to master the Salvadoreña favorite with help from La Familia.
Pupusa. Just saying the word – poo-poo-sah – tilts the edges of a mouth up into a grin. And when I bite into the sealed tortilla to release tasty morsels of melty cheese and chicharron ...
Public Citizen
Ongoing Feed the Hungry | COUNTYWIDE– Bring non-perishable food to one of the following locations. Food will then be donated to the Food Bank for Monterey County. Salinas Valley Center for Change, 931 E. Market ...
Dewey Debate
Proposed Seaside library move sparks controversy.
At 3pm on a school day, the Grover R. Forrest Library near Seaside’s City Hall is anything but quiet. Students flit through the stacks, chattering in English and Spanish. A small kid streaks past the ...
Yes, there is a Santa Claus
Peninsula art and framing shops back in business.
Local businessman John Wiseman isn’t participating in the recession. A little over a year ago, he and his wife sold their businesses– ArtMax and Frames on Broadway in Seaside, Searle Art Supplies and Searle Picture ...
Speaking In Numbers
By The Numbers
$350,000 Recent Sale 63 Del Mesa Carmel, Carmel Built: 1968 Size: 1,000 square feet Features: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 floor, 1-car carport Amenities: Private garden patio, marble tile floors, close to condo amenities (fitness ...
A man in a hat plays free grocery store folk for shoppers.
On a bustling Monday afternoon inside of the Trader Joe’s Monterey, shoppers pass towering boxes of garlic mashed potatoes and tables covered with fruits and vegetables. Most are in their own bubble, checking off items ...
Squid Fry for Dec 18, 2008
Squid Fry for Dec 18, 2008
PETA HEARTS MILITARY… Squid wondered why People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activists were suddenly interested in Monterey’s Defense Language Institute. Did they finally make the connection between war and animal welfare? Did they ...
Home for the Holidays
Farmworkers’ migration patterns shift as U.S. economy continues to sour.
The Foods Co parking lot in East Salinas normally serves as aa lively hub for farmworker men, who get on and off white, Porta-Potty-inclusive buses. But just days away from the holidays, few field workers ...
Speak Low
BOZ SCAGGS
That bluesman turned ’70s pop superstar Boz Scaggs would one day turn to jazz is no surprise. “Harbor Lights” from Silk Degrees and “Heart Of Mine” from Other Roads are just two examples of how ...
Green Energy
Marina’s new mayor, one of three Green city leaders in the state, pushes an ambition agenda.
Marina City Manager Tony Altfeld leans back in his chair and buries his face in his hand. It’s 10:15 p.m. The earlier energy and enthusiasm that filled the City Council chambers for Mayor Bruce Delgado’s ...
The Ball Street Journal
E-40
E-40 is a shrewd businessman and competent rapper who at times verged on being a great rapper. But usually his desire to remain marketable outpaces his creativity – 40’s endless repetitions of certain slang words ...
The Only Color That Matters Is Green
PACEWON AND MR. GREEN
PaceWon is bitter that Eminem, his former Outsidaz groupmate, didn’t bring him along when he blew up. He airs out his antagonism on “The Joker,” the last track on his new album with producer Mr. ...
Slow Your Roll
Take time to enjoy all the inspired Japanese cuisine at Oh! Sushi.
After parking on an uninspired stretch of Fremont Street between the highway and Casa Verde, I discovered my destination at a new Japanese restaurant was inside an ordinary Travelodge, during, as we all know, the ...
