Farm Country Face-Off
Ed Mitchell’s crusade to unseat Lou Calcagno pits him against an incumbent who knows how to milk the system – and co-opt his opponents.
Moon Glow Dairy lies at the end of a gravel road bisected by sweeping power lines from the Moss Landing Power Plant and rimmed with calla lilies. It’s home to 1,000 milk-producing cows, several mice-hunting ...
Issues / 2010 / Jun 03
Monterey City Council gives unanimous reprieve to New Year's bash.
City staff recommended saying no to First Night Monterey's request for a $20 thousand in-kind grant for its annual family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration, but the City Council vetoed that proposal Tuesday June 15 after ...
Election Roundup
Voters stick with Kotowski and Calcagno; sheriff and treasurer races go to runoff.
In an election year viewed as tough for incumbents, Monterey County voters are sticking with a few of theirs: District 2 Supervisor Lou Calcagno is keeping his seat, defeating challenger Ed Mitchell 54 to 46 ...
Peninsula cities want in on Regional Water Project hearings.
Better late than never. This morning, a group of five Peninsula cities - Seaside, Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove and Sand City - asked to be a part of the Regional Water Project hearings before the ...
The remains of Ryann Bunnell Crow have been found in Alameda County, DA says.
District Attorney Dean Flippo announced June 8 that DNA tests reveal that Ryann Bunnell Crow's remains were found on the East Bay shore line in Alameda County. Crow's husband, Jesse Crow, was charged with her ...
Monterey Film Commission head steps down.
Joe Fletcher joined the commission staff as development director last fall with big plans to restore Monterey County to its former glory as a prized location for film shoots. But Commission President Gloria Gargiulo says ...
County Supervisor Jane Parker says she didn't endorse Nancy Kotowski for County Superintendent of Schools, but...
Parker's name continued to appear on slate mailers for Kotowski, even after a Parker staffer noted the error, and phoned the Kotowski campaign to correct it. The following week, however, another mailer arrived, also listing ...
Cake and Handshakes
Lt. Gov Abel Maldonado campaigns to keep his job—and stumps for Prop 14
Maldonado worked the room at Rosine's, table hopping and posing for photos as diners tucked into four inch high club sandwiches and massive burgers at the downtown Monterey eatery on election eve. The lieutenant governor ...
MoveOn to hold local oil spill vigil Tuesday.
As the disastrous Gulf Coast oil spill spreads to four state coastlines, Californians are feeling the grief. MoveOn.org's political action wing plans to hold a vigil Tuesday, June 8, the 50th day since the start ...
Dream-pop Brits play intimate show in Big Sur.
Watch Video After selling out two straight San Francisco shows, the rising trio the xx, played to a crowd of about 250 on Thursday night at the Henry Miller Library. "It's a pretty magical place," ...
Jazz in the Forest
Canadian singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg performed at Outdoor Forest Theatre.
Flanked by local musicians including Billy Jones on drums, upright bass player Heath Proskin and longtime friend Eddie Erickson on guitar and banjo, who were, themselves, flanked by the Treasure Island set on stage at ...
New farmers market brings healthy flavor to Natividad Medical Center.
Most doctors encourage their patients to eat more fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. But the lesson is so much tastier when there are ripe strawberries, crisp green beans and buttery avocados right outside the hospital ...
The United Farm Workers union leadership heads to Arizona to test new immigration law.
UFW Vice President Efren Barajas announced Thursday, June 3 that he and other farmworker leaders will dare Arizona authorities to arrest them when they travel to the state without ID on July 29, the day ...
Online travel agents could owe cash-starved Monterey County cities big bucks.
The city of Monterey says online travel sites like Expedia and Travelocity could owe them as much as $5 million, an amount equal to the city's current deficit. That's because travel websites pay hotel taxes ...
Alisal and Greenfield trustee salaries dwarf average superintendent pay.
The two women who now hold the reins of power in the Alisal and Greenfield school districts will take home far larger paychecks than most school chiefs nationwide, whose average annual pay is $155,634, according ...
Citizens for Public Water plans to sign onto Regional Desalination Project agreements.
The tides are shifting on the Regional Water Project, as watchdog group Citizens for Public Water moves from opponent to supporter of the desalination agreements - joining its historic adversary, California American Water. Under the ...
Splice
Mommy Issues: Splice depicts sexual torture, but is also a pain to sit through.
Science fiction horror movies have long been informing us that there are realms in which Man Was Not Meant To Meddle. This warning usually comes via a solemnly silly overblown cautionary tale that revels in ...
Squid Fry for Jun 03, 2010
Squid Fry for Jun 03, 2010
UNLIKELY ALLIES… Squid never thought Squid would see the day that Al and Tipper Gore split up. (After all those photogenic campaign make-out sessions!) But an even bigger shocker is the sudden public display of ...
Parents group asks MPUSD for auditor; poll supports bond.
A group of Monterey parents – angered by a plan they say seeks to improve low-performing Seaside schools at the expense of better-performing Monterey campuses – say they didn’t get straight answers about the plan ...
Cold Truth
Conquering the Alcatraz Challenge, the start of Tricalifornia’s “Summer in the City.”
Things are thrashing and splashing in the Sunday morning waters just off Alcatraz. Scores of people have just pitched themselves into the ocean, 1.5 miles from the San Francisco shore, and waves of three keep ...
Shifting Salinas
Salinas takes new approaches to perpetual budget and gang violence problems.
It sounds so familiar: Salinas is cutting wherever the heck it can to make it through another malignant budget cycle, the feds are eying the city’s gang problem, Chinatown redevelopment inches ahead, and Mayor Dennis ...
The best of our web exclusives.
P.G. Backfills…The city of Pacific Grove can’t seem to keep its councilmembers. At a special meeting June 1, the City Council appointed Dan Miller, one of seven applicants, to replace Deborah Lindsay, who resigned for ...
¡Ask A Mexican! for Jun 03, 2010
One man's take on his culture's stereotypes
SPECIAL HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATION EDITION I work at a high school where there’s a significant number of our students without papers. Two students that I worked with for four years graduated last June (one from Mexico, ...
Seed Money
Carmel design firm turns landscaping into tax breaks.
Those apple trees, flowering plums and sugar bushes in your yard are adding more than foliage over the years; they’re gaining value, too. One local building design firm helps property owners reap the tax benefits ...
Tough Call
Magic Circle’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone is a busy circuit of weighty themes and modern complexity.
The set of Magic Circle Theatre’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone is abstract, constructed of vertical panels painted with diagrams of what looks like the human ear and heart, book-ended by two ...
Playing the blame game won’t end the political mess.
It’s election season, so the candidates have been traipsing across the county, and the country, to compete for the questionably desirable honor of holding public office at a time when: a) there’s less money to ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): If you’d like to be in supreme alignment with cosmic rhythms this week, I suggest that you completely avoid using the f-word. Likewise, you’ll maximize your chances for taking advantage of ...
Carrots Over Candy Bars
Grant plants the seed for youth nutrition program.
Everyone’s Harvest has launched four Monterey County farmers markets, hosted almost 100 educational workshops and held dozens of cooking demonstrations in its eight-year effort to inspire healthier eating. But one little upstart’s comment made Nicole ...
Asphalt Rock
Judgement Day vigorous string metal returns to rock Monterey.
The Oakland string band Judgement Day owes a lot of its success and sound to the streets. Violinist Anton Patzner maintains that the band’s biggest breakthroughs and the development of their signature string metal style ...
Tap That
Monterey Beer Festival introduces a range of additions that make popular tasting that much tastier.
There’s a big difference between the guy doing naked keg stands and real beer enthusiasts. True beer enthusiasts are not much different from wine enthusiasts. They too love seeking choices from all over the world, ...
State of Uncertainty
Mum’s the word for many named in the A.G.’s suit against Monterey County Aids Project.
Seventy-two-year-old Arthur Bourdon got the news when a reporter phoned to ask if he knew he was being sued. Minutes later, Bourdon heard a knock at the door of his Monterey home, and a process ...
What song would you teach a rooster to sing instead of crowing?
Asked at the Feed Trough Feed Store in Salinas.
Follow-up: What are you “chicken” of? MARLENA TORREY | Retired | Marina A: I’d want something upbeat and peppy. Maybe “Singing in the Rain.” That’d get me up and singing. Pony Up: Falling off my ...
The City of Your Final Destination
Opulent Ruins: Despite being set in a sprawling jungle estate, James Ivory’s The City of Your Final Destination is nowhere to visit.
With three-time Oscar nominated director James Ivory (A Room With a View, Howards End) at the helm, The City of Your Final Destination can also boast of a powerhouse cast marked by the presence of ...
Aging Well
Monterey Wine Festival adds juice, plus beer brainstorms and a $20 deal.
When five dozen wineries like Silvestri and Summerland each flow upwards of four wines to complement dozens of restaurant treats, that qualifies as a worthy wine party. When it happens at the Aquarium, and includes ...
Letters to the Editor for Jun 03, 2010
MONEY TALKS I’ve always thought that what’s not being taught in the schools but should is personal finance. There are many creative ways in which students of all ages can take a hands-on approach. Starting ...
Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination brings out cultural, as well as political, biases from the right.
The debate over Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court reveals just how powerfully identity politics has corrupted our political discourse. But like so much about the 1960s, what was originally a ...
Totally Chicken
A local look at personality-rich fowl play in the backyard.
“Harley! Frida! Freya!” Three hens nudge their way out from under a tree in the corner of the Pacific Grove yard and hustle over like three busybodies anticipating the latest gossip. Overjoyed to find that ...
Art Listing for Jun 03, 2010
Art Listing for Jun 03, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK CARMEL Fine Art First Friday: It’s time for Fine Art First Friday, an evening when artist-owned galleries on Dolores Street stay open after hours and often have some form of live art ...
The Public Voice
Public Citizen
THURSDAY 6|3 AIRPORT VENTURES | MARINA—The City Council and Economic Development Commission host a joint meeting to review a proposal by Airport Property Ventures to manage and develop the city’s airport business park. 6:30pm. Council ...
xx Factor
Soaring dream pop trio stops in Big Sur on the way to Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.
The xx’s stage set-up is quite simple: an all-black backdrop with two Xs that glow with quasar-like intensity. The band’s 39-minute, self-titled debut is similarly unassuming – which is a primary reason why it’s so ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$489,000 Recent Sale 810 Rebecca Circle, Aromas Built: 1976 Size: 1,903 square feet Features: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2-car garage on 2.6 acres Amenities: Fireplace, recreation room, workshop, mountain views Seller: E. Nanez Buyer: W. ...
Spanking Good
Cheeky Spanks plays Beatles themed show at Hartnell’s planetarium.
If “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” doesn’t already conjure up whimsical, dreamlike visualizations, imagine listening to it while clusters of stars or wild kaleidoscopic patterns swirl over your head. Or how about listening to ...
Leaping Higher
Smuin Ballet steps up innovation and sensuality for its spring show at Sunset.
Their exquisitely defined muscles glisten against a dark backdrop. All six slice fencing foils through the air, slide them luxuriously along the stage floor, then flip them suddenly with the flick of a toe. Instead ...
Prunedale band Louie and The Lovers hit NPR airwaves.
Louie and The Lovers' music has been called a "Salinas Valley Boy version of Creedence Clearwater Revival infused with a pinch of tex-mex Big Star." The largely undiscovered Prunedale band, which started recording as a ...
Campaign Cha-Ching
Kanalakis and Garcia battle in campaign fund raising, Miller trails.
Sheriff Mike Kanalakis raised more than $63,000 in the past two months, surpassing retired cmdr. Fred Garcia who brought in nearly $57,000 and walloping former Pacific Grove police chief Scott Miller who only received $9,400 ...
