Gun Control
Mike Kanalakis’ critics are up in arms, but he’s running for re-election anyway.
Sheriff Mike Kanalakis doesn’t come across as a bully: He smiles, returns phone calls from the media, and clearly cares about protecting the county he grew up in. But it’s also clear that in his ...
Issues / 2010 / Jan 14
The Pacific Grove City Council mulls medical pot.
The Pacific Grove City Council voted unanimously for a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in town at its Wednesday, Jan 20 meeting. "I encouraged them to vote for it, because it's a time period ...
Indie TEDx event coming to MIIS
Although the official TED event has ditched Monterey for Long Beach, locals are organizing an independent version of TED on April 16 at Monterey Institute of International Studies. TEDxMonterey will feature inspirational speakers with live ...
Is opportunity knocking for medical pot clubs? Or is that the sound of a slamming door?
The Monterey City Council voted four to one for a 45-day moratorium on medical pot clubs after hearing from a parade of mostly pro-pot speakers on Tuesday, Jan 19. Monterey is the fifth city in ...
CHISPA awarded $5 million to fix up foreclosed homes
CHISPA has received a $5 million federal grant to buy and renovate about 55 foreclosed homes in the cities of Salinas, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City and Hollister, the affordable housing builder announced today. The ...
Worst of storm is over, forecaster says
Yesterday's heavy downpours and frequent lightning strikes aren't expected to hit the county today or the rest of the week, says Monterey-area National Weather Service forecaster Brian Tentinger. "For the most part, the rains and ...
Seaside City Council meeting videos to be archived online.
Last spring, the city of Seaside came out of the electronic Dark Ages with a new, user-friendlier website. Now it's taking another step to improve public access: posting Video on Demand archives of City Council ...
Smalley's Roundup to open new location
Smalley's Roundup, which has been serving BBQ in Salinas for 35 years, will have a grand opening for its new location on Jan. 26. Smalley's new spot is 1190 South Main St., former home of ...
Minke Meat
Stanford study finds Antarctic whale population is not booming.
A new study led by Hopkins Marine Station Director Steve Palumbi punches a blowhole in a scientific debate about minke whale numbers. Experts have wondered whether 20th century hunting of large whales may have benefitted ...
Condor Conservation
Pinnacles and Argentina park team up to protect condors
The Pinnacles National Monument and a national park in Argentina had a ceremonial signing today, creating a sister park agreement to promote endangered condor recovery programs. The signing with Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito was ...
Deal or No Deal?
Salinas City Council wants new agreement with Leidig's development group
Reeling in a deal to redevelop Salinas' downtown has once again hit a snag. In closed session Tuesday night, the City Council terminated its exclusive negotiating rights agreement with Salinas Renaissance Partners, a development group ...
Reggie's Game
Mr. October talks about the game he loved, his father and steroid use in the majors.
"Somtimes you gotta just let a hungry dog eat!" This was baseball Hall-of-Famer slugger Reggie Jackson's answer to a young fan's question on what it feels like to get a good pitch. The first good ...
Data Rush
New tsunami maps help emergency planners prepare for coastal flooding.
Signs of a tiny human in uphill flight from an enormous wave remind users of Pacific Grove’s Recreation Trail what to do in case of a tsunami: Run to higher ground. But the latest data ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): The Earth’s north magnetic pole is not the same as the geographic North Pole. If you take out a compass to orient yourself toward due north, the compass arrow will actually ...
Opinion: One man’s take on his culture’s stereotypes
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m surprised by the choice of the word “amnesty” by those who would demonize immigration reform, especially in the South. Doesn’t the modern well-being of many Southerners derive in some way from their ...
The national cold spell goes beyond the weather report.
It’s been one of those rare cultural and political moments when seemingly unrelated events come together to capture a cultural mood. The release of the movie Up in the Air, starring George Clooney as a ...
Singular Talent
Kim “Vermillion” Boekbinder visits East Village as her solo career trampolines across the creative canvas.
“You know what?” Kim Boekbinder says. “I’m just going to give you some dirt, because I feel like it.” As Vermillion Lies, Kim and her sister Zoe Boekbinder formed a part-cabaret, part-folk, part-performance art music ...
A Single Man
Tour de Ford: 'A Single Man' is a perfectly rendered adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel about love and loss.
George Falconer (Colin Firth) is a middle-aged, British expat teaching at university in sunny southern California in 1962. A closeted homosexual by cultural necessity, he’s possessed of monumental outward conformity. Inside, however, beats the heart ...
What is the most useless law in place?
Asked at Monterey Public Library.
Follow-up: What is the biggest obstacle law enforcement faces? FRANK VILLA | Tile Contractor | Pacific Grove A: Pissing in public. When you gotta go pee and you can’t go anywhere, what are you gonna ...
Power Planting
Big changes appear to be emerging from the organic dirt at Earthbound Farm.
When a green giant takes a big step, it usually makes a little noise. But as locally sown Earthbound Farm, the largest organic grower on the globe, stopped planting produce on its flagship 5-acre Carmel ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen
ONGOING ROTARY PROPOSALS | MONTEREY COUNTY—The Rotary Club of Monterey Pacific is seeking funding proposals from local 501(c)3 organizations with “a demonstrated ability to provide meaningful and measurable ongoing benefits to the residents of the ...
New news on old news
Sollecito Sequel…The chief is out, the interim chief is out, and the retired chief is in at Seaside Police Department. Former chief Steve Cercone ended his tenure Jan. 1, interim Stephen Willis got his walking ...
Good News, Bad News
CSUMB officials relieved at stanching of cuts, MPC takes wait-and-see stance.
After a semester of fewer class offerings, higher tuition and frequent furlough days, Cal State Monterey Bay junior Adrienne Brown likes the prospect of greener budget times. “It’s sad that we are paying more money ...
Art Listings for Jan 14, 2010
Art Listings for Jan 14, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK Alternative Café Kunstkammer: This home-grown art opening named after Peter the Great’s chamber of curiosities combines sculptures and prints by ex-Monterey resident Kim Boekbinder with mixed media and pen and ink works ...
Community groups rally to keep public facilities afloat.
Salinas is heading toward a new chapter in fiscal insolvency: turning over as many as three recreation centers, a brand-new pool, concert hall and convention grounds to outside groups. On Jan. 13 (past the Weekly’s ...
The Lovely Bones
The Children’s Hour: 'The Lovely Bones' portrays a suburb of the martyred, but Peter Jackson fails to get heavenly.
About seven years before he entered the pantheon of fantasy with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson made a movie called Heavenly Creatures. Even though it was one of the very best films ...
Clouds in Carmel
Mayor, City Council members face challenges after a year of controversy.
Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud was practically raised at City Hall; her detractors fear she’ll never leave. The five-term mayor recalls celebrating her confirmation under the wooden beams of the City Council chambers when it was ...
With a plethora of dead pets, it’s no wonder kiddies are traumatized by their learning literature.
The first book that ever made me cry told the story of an egg-sucking, ringwormy male with one ear chewed off. Did I mention he was yellow? And I was 6? Fred Gipson’s Old Yeller ...
Grass Gets Greener
Pot parlors abandon Sand City, head to Monterey and Pacific Grove.
Jhonrico Carrnshimba may prove the old adage that it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission—at least when it comes to medical marijuana. In November, the Sand City Council said no to a pitch by would-be ...
Classic Cases
Peter Toth and the Borromeo String Quartet give Carmel a majestic weekend of music.
German composer Paul Hindemith often asked, “How can anyone ever be a master of music?” But Hindemith’s question finds an answer in the impeccable barrage of strings that open the allegro of his Symphonic Metamorphosis ...
Letters to the Editor for Jan 14, 2010
MYSTERIOUS STRANGER Sometimes it feels like I’m keeping better track of what local writers say than they are themselves. Leading up to the last mayoral election in Carmel, Squid slammed a mystery candidate. Now (“Squid ...
Saigon Noodle
Grandma Sunshine: A family matriarch fills Saigon Noodle with slow-simmered flavor.
Any Vietnamese cook will tell you that a good broth is the cornerstone of pho, the ubiquitous noodle soup you’ll find at every noodle soup spot, whether in Vietnam or in the U.S. I know ...
Squid Fry for Jan 14, 2010
Squid Fry for Jan 14, 2010
MAN TROUBLE… What were they smoking? Squid chuckled to Squidself upon hearing that folks have been ringing up Detective Burt Ayles at his office – at the Watsonville Police Department, no less – to inquire ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$240,000 recent Sale 606 Rusconi Drive, Soledad Built: 2007 Size: 1,688 square feet Features: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage Amenities: Fireplace, gourmet kitchen with new appliances, large landscaped yard Seller: UCP Soledad Limited Buyer: ...
Library 2.0
From Guitar Hero to eBooks, the catalog of interesting adaptations at area bibliotecas is impressive.
Once upon a time libraries were tranquil places of solemn study, scored by the gentle crinkle of pages turning, hushed voices and the whir of the microfiche machine. No longer. John Steinbeck Library, administered by ...
