Opinion / Letters
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 05.16.13
Hornet’s Nest Why can’t the cemetery happen without that useless horse track and other stupid development ideas? (“Fort Ord initiative opponents: It’s the veterans cemetery, stupid,” posted May 6 and “Local Spin: Fort Ord’s mother ...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 05.09.13
Divided Empathies Another perk of the failed “War On Drugs” that does nothing to stop drug use and creates a serious incentive for criminals to traffic, sell and produce dangerous drugs. (“Monterey stabbing suspect pleads ...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 04.25.13
Gun Culture First, thank you Phil Nash for being (to quote Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver) the “real rain that came and washed the scum from the streets” (“Getting a concealed weapons permit in Monterey ...
Letters To The Editor 04.25.13
Battle Ready No way would I ever sign something that takes away the Vet Cemetery (“Enviro petition challenges Fort Ord’s biggest proposed development,” April 18-24). It may leave the property alone, but it cuts off ...
Letters To The Editor 04.18.13
Street Scenes Really? A round-about in Custom House Plaza? Seriously? (“Monterey traffic plan would end one-ways, transform Custom House Plaza, relocate MST hub,” April 11-17). That area is awesome how it is, a pedestrian center ...
Letters To The Editor 04.11.13
Grassy KnollLawn haters. Lawns do not require perpetual watering (“Everything you know about gardening is a lie; here’s how to change your thinking,” April 4-10). Clouds sometimes create rain which falls naturally and waters plants ...
Letters To The Editor 04.04.13
Wide Open FORA’s behavior is why the state of California dissolved redevelopment agencies (“Fort Ord open-space activists gear up for ballot initiative,” posted March 28). The FORA board votes in its own self interest, often ...
Letters To The Editor 03.28.13
Turning Green Congratulations on your LEED Platinum Certification (“The Weekly’s intrepid pursuit of top LEED certification,” March 21-27). I too have “bragging rights” for my 1901 “green” home in P.G. I use a hose to ...
Letters To The Editor 03.21.13
Conspiracy Theories Author Joel Dyer paints a chilling picture of hate groups’ evil tentacles slithering into regular Americans’ minds, driving many to insane violence (“Why is it that people die when we talk about gun ...
Letters To The Editor 03.14.13
Lettuce Pray Squid, I revere your talent with the ink (“Extra Helping of Squid,” posted March 4). Just not sure if this Taylor building is “the effect” for Oldtown. What happened already is that a ...
Letters To The Editor 03.07.13
Come Sail Away In the edition dated February 28, author Sara Rubin incorrectly used the phrase “taking a different tact.” (“A Monterey brick-and-mortar bookstore survives – even thrives – by taking a different tact,” Feb. ...
Letters To The Editor 02.28.13
Flocked Up That is very upsetting (“Sand City pigeon poisoning may have had unintended consequences,” Feb. 21-27). I helped with the falcons a few years. Like clockwork they showed up. They were an awesome sight ...
Letters To The Editor 02.21 .13
Wall Art It is important to note that very little of the $17 billion quoted is actually used for product (“Graffiti creates huge business opportunities – the graffiti abatement industry,” Feb. 14-20). The figure encompasses ...
Letters To The Editor 02.14 .13
Bad Medicine, No Medicine On Jan. 15, after months of work by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Director of the Monterey County Health Department Ray Bullick, Natividad Medical Center CEO Harry Weis and with ...
Letters To The Editor 02.07.13
Dream Weaver The careful reader will note that the second and third paragraphs of this story that attribute a degree program in cannabis cultivation to CSU Monterey Bay are subsumed within the first paragraph that ...
Letters To The Editor 01.31.13
Run For Your Lives Hey Squid. You’ve got some inaccuracies in your Mike Dove story (“Squid Fry,” Jan. 24-30). There was never any lying – the column in question basically just said, “There was an ...
Letters To The Editor 01.24.13
Motorhomies I find it very difficult to trust or believe what we are being told by the city of Del Rey Oaks representatives (“Neighbor groups form to weigh in on future of Del Rey Oaks ...
Letters To The Editor 01.17.13
Trigger Fingers Gun clutchers who cloak themselves in the Second Amendment argue that gun regulations are ineffective because criminals never abide by them (“Local Spin,” Jan. 3-9). That’s a peculiar ration-ale. Let’s try applying it ...
Letters To The Editor 01.10.13
Good Medicine Concerning the piece “Patient Patients” (“As SVMH mulls the future of healthcare, business leaders ponder how to stay afloat,” Dec. 27, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013), the most commentary I have heard about this important ...
Letters To The Editor 01.03.13
Salt Sense I was surprised to see an item on the consent calendar for the last Salinas City Council meeting, calling for the City of Salinas to “pursue an agreement with DeepWater Desal LLC to ...
Letters To The Editor 12.27.12
Second Breakfast In reference to Dan Hudak’s review (“Peter Jackson plays it out with unexpectedly long journey in latest installment of The Hobbit,” Dec. 13-19), I saw the new film in its non-3D and non-Imax ...
Letters To The Editor 12.20.12
Steinbeck Blowback Dear Arvin Temkar, Steinbeck readers, dog lovers of the world and Weekly readers: If you were mildly amused or even somewhat disturbed by the “revelations” in the article (“Journalist paints Travels With Charley ...
Letters To The Editor 12.13.12
A Giving Story A few weeks ago, I came across a Carmel Middle School student who said he was going to bring $100 on Monday to donate to the MEarth campaign through Monterey County Gives! ...
Letters To The Editor 12.06.12
Air Ball Whoa. What timing. Don’t know where you were – or where last week’s cover story (“What About Bob,” Nov. 28-Dec. 5) was – when you heard that Andrew Bogut pulled the plug on ...
Letters To The Editor 11.28.12
More Invisible Thanks so much for your moving article (“The Invisible Women,” Nov. 15-20). The perception that the Peninsula doesn’t have a problem with homelessness, drugs or hunger is just plain wrong and I am ...
Letters To The Editor 11.21.12
Whippersnappers, Represent I registered to vote when I turned 21 in April 1947 and my first and only vote for a Democrat for [president] was for Harry Truman. (“Local Spin,” Nov. 8-14). “Why at the ...
Letters To The Editor 11.15.12
Singing For Sandy Thanks so much for this fantastic article (“Nearly a dozen local music acts unite in Salinas to raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief,” Nov. 8-14). People want to know how to help ...
Letters To The Editor 11.08.12
Giddyup! I was disappointed to see the Civil Grand Jury conclude that the Marina Equestrian Park does not provide public recreation (“Extra Helping of Squid,” Oct 25). This conclusion makes no sense. Squid, your squidlets ...
Letters To The Editor 11.01.12
Cheers to Osio The Osio is as much a part of Monterey as the wharf or Cannery Row – it’s an institution (“Local Spin,” Oct. 25-31). I have never been there that the staff hasn’t ...
Letters To The Editor 10.25.12
The Enforcer The city needs to start enforcing its building codes (“Shootings, gang violence on the rise in Seaside; what do you think should be done?” posted Oct. 18 to Facebook). The apartment building next ...
Letters To The Editor 10.18.12
Health of Esalen Might be important to note that the 75 percent increase in health benefits is made possible by the fact that prior to that, the health benefits were maintained at the low level ...
Letters To The Editor 10.11.12
Surious Stuff I’m wondering what exactly Tricia McEntee has done to bring Esalen “into compliance with labor laws.” (“One half-century at Esalen Institute,” Oct. 4-10). Although there are new systems in place for accurately recording ...
Letters To The Editor 10.04.12
Inconvenient Truths Hot here; cold there. Heat distribution not so rare. We need all info on the table to make informed decisions. Where is the map showing the ice extent in Antarctica this year? Not ...
Letters To The Editor 9.27.12
The R-Word This article is great! (“MPUSD parents say special-ed kids aren’t getting the attention they need,” Sept. 13-19). I understand exactly what it’s like to deal with these retards! My daughter has cochlear implants ...
Letters To The Editor 9.20.12
Setting Sail It is no secret that MoM is a historically troubled organization (“Lisa Coscino, credited with revitalizing Museum of Monterey, ousted from director spot,” Sept. 13-19). For it to succeed means a coordinated effort ...
Letters To The Editor 9.13.12
Whether, Luis? Thanks for letting us know where Assemblyman Alejo’s allegiance lies (“State styrofoam ban fails; Alejo ducks vote,” posted Sept. 6). Alejo’s accepting a contribution from a styrofoam producer, then abstaining from voting on ...
Letters To The Editor 9.06.12
Hey Squid I take exception to your “Pants Off Dance Off” column calling Republicans “dumbasses” (“Squid Fry,” Aug. 23-29). You should be corrected: Anyone with intelligence would recognize “dumb elephants”; dumbasses are Democrats!! Thank you ...
Letters To The Editor 8.30.12
Bank On It Your article suggesting that cities use eminent domain to revalue mortgages for homeowners who have negative equity is legally possible but politically untenable (“The feds won’t do it, and neither will the ...
Letters To The Editor 8.23.12
Counting the Cost Thank you for bringing this to the public’s attention (“Former warden says California can’t afford the death penalty,” Aug. 9-15). It really hit my hot button. I am shocked at the amount ...
Letters To The Editor 8.16.12
Stale and Uneasy All cities should sit up and take notice (“Fresh & Easy Abandons Peninsula Sites,” Fresh Squid newsletter, Aug. 13). These corporations are not motivated by caring about the residents of cities or ...
Letters To The Editor 8.09.12
Life on Wheels Honoring Chris Essert with Walter Ryce’s article was very kind and thoughtful (“Car-less Chris Essert is a diligent patron of all things cultural [and cheap] in Monterey County,” July 26-Aug. 1). I ...
Letters To The Editor 8.02.12
Ord-inary People It amazes me that you keep printing John Hutcherson’s letters as he is obviously confused about what is happening at the former Fort Ord (“Letters,” July 26-Aug. 1). As a lifelong resident of ...
Letters To The Editor 7.26.12
Fish Food This author’s premise of “conservation efforts that put a stop to heavy pumping” is short-sighted and ignores what an increasing number of scientists and fish agencies are reporting (“California’s booming salmon season belies ...
Letters To The Editor 7.19.12
Unhappy Trails If the trails had not been continually used for the past two decades they would have been overgrown by now (“EPA tells FORA to man the fort, threatens to close off public access,” ...
Letters To The Editor 7.12.12
Fort Ordnance The EPA says it’s “paperwork” that keeps the Keep Out signs up (“Vets snub Fort Ord rules with new sign honoring soldiers,” July 5-11). I wonder how fast the paperwork will shuffle calling ...
Letters To The Editor 7.05.12
Team Margot I’ve known Margot for 40 years and she has always been a sweetheart to me (“If you must invade Monterey County’s singular company town, follow the rules,” June 28-July 4). She gave Spreckels ...
Letters To The Editor 6.28.12
HEARTLESS RIVER I had to laugh after reading your article on the Carmel River a couple of weeks ago (“The Carmel River is a wisp of its former self, but hope is around the bend,” ...
Letters To The Editor 6.21.12
LOSS IS MORE Your post (“A daughter struggles with her mother’s imminent passing,” June 14-20) was both poignant and personal, bringing back many memories of my own mother’s struggle with brain cancer and her final ...
Letters To The Editor 6.14.12
ROAD TO NOVEMBER California used the same kind of primary ballot in 1998 and 2000 (“First open primary doesn’t change the liberal composition of Monterey County reps,” June 7-14). All candidates from all parties appeared ...
Letters To The Editor 6.07.12
Field Maneuvers To Maria Catalan, thank you for sharing a little about your farming techniques – I would like to learn more (“A farm worker turned farm owner urges a phase-out of all fumigants,” May ...
Letters To The Editor 5.31.12
Strings Attached I am again saddened by the folks who are seemingly puppeteering Byrl Smith (“Bad advice drives Byrl Smith’s campaign to cynical places,” May 24-30). There were two separate opinion pieces today: a letter ...
Letters To The Editor 5.24.12
Strange Bedfellows My Republican absentee ballot just arrived in the mail. When confronted with an intellectual challenge, you begin your search for an answer. Maybe IBM’s Watson supercomputer can help. Well, lucky me, the Monterey ...
Letters To The Editor 5.17.12
Instituting Change The “blame the victim” stance Wheeler takes re: Jim is nauseating; I was there, I know what Jim experienced, that the people in power there abandoned him when he needed real support and ...
Letters To The Editor 5.10.12
Artichokin’ I’d like to go on record as stating that I have never used an artichoke as a marital aid, and what’s more, my husband hasn’t had to “resign” himself to my cooking, he quite ...
Letters To The Editor 5.03.12
Labor Pains As one of the eight women mentioned in the first paragraph, I wanted to add my thoughts (“Local hospitals battle for the earthy birth market,” April 26-May 2). Saying that the local doula ...
Letters To The Editor 4.26.12
Monumental for the People The Fort Ord National Monument is a great asset to this area (“It’s official: Fort Ord National Monument,” posted April 20). It will make the campus of CSUMB more desirable. The ...
Letters To The Editor 4.19.12
Neighbor Hoods Well, just think, if California had the “Stand Your Ground” law, John Kenney would undoubtedly be a free man (“Those People Next Door,” April 12-16). He already has invoked the “defending himself against ...
Letters To The Editor 4.112.12
Habitat Thanks We were thrilled to see the cover photograph, taken in the new, green building at the Hilton Bialek Habitat and the article in the Home and Garden Issue (“With the launch of Hilton ...
Letters To The Editor 4.05.12
Non-Toxic Planet What is the difference between methyl iodide, methyl bromide, utility company Smart Meters and cigarettes, LSD, crack and heroin? All of them harm people, with the most damage occurring to exposed children (“Arysta ...
Letters To The Editor 3.29.12
Un-chain Melody I do want the economy to flourish for the city of Pacific Grove but am of the opinion that the ban on “formula fast food” remain (“Pacific Grove re-examines its fast-food ban; residents ...
Letters To The Editor 3.22.12
Occupying Sense Interesting comments made by CSUMB student: “We are sick of hearing the system does not have money,” Erika Rodriguez, a junior in communications, told the crowd. “We believe education should be free.” (Occupy ...
Letters to the Editor 03-15-12
Animal Logic I kinda think a birdie’s life is a little more important than golfers getting poop on their shoes (“Feds poison 300 pesky waterfowl at Rancho Cañada Golf Club,” March 8-14). - Chelsea Anna ...
Letters To The Editor 3.08.12
Park It Here Thanks for this thoughtful article, Weekly! (“Four state parks in Monterey County are set to close in July. You’ll probably be able to play there anyway,” March 1-7). In addition to all ...
Letters To The Editor 3.01.12
Graffiti Logic Four years ago, Santa Barbara was complaining about having to spend as much as $200,000 per year cleaning graffiti. My suggestion for Monterey County: Create a graffiti park (“A game of tag,” Feb. ...
Letters To The Editor 2.23.12
Stamping Out Hunger Your cover story highlighted the barriers faced by those who struggle with food insecurity (“Hunger Games,” Feb. 16-22). However, other than outlining the economic benefits of food stamps, there seemed too indirect ...
Letters To The Editor 2.16.12
Wave Hello to new energy The ocean will be a key part of a “green” energy revolution, and we don’t have to drill underneath it! (“Feds look to the ocean for clean energy as scientists ...
Letters To The Editor 2.09.12
In the ’Vill Thanks for the wonderful article on Carmel Valley and its beautiful village (“Carmel Valley Rising,” Feb. 2-8). We’re still a secret to many but I think it’s just a matter of time ...
Letters To The Editor 2.02.12
Monumental Movement It is about time that Fort Ord be saved from greedy developers who bulldoze the landscape then go broke and leave, or other developers that build obnoxious big box stores and malls (“Local ...
Letters To The Editor 1.26.12
Off With Their Heads A common fallacy made by those who do not understand money is an argument based on equality. Money is not inherently equitable nor does it convey uniformity in quantity or status. ...
Letters to the Editor 01-19-12
Cause and Effect For 30 years, cities in California have used redevelopment agencies to appropriate the schools’ portion of tax local property taxes to themselves (“Supreme Court decision dooms redevelopment agencies, leaves cities reeling,” Jan. ...
Letters To The Editor 1.12.12
Occupying Thoughts A few comments (“Occupy Monterey looks forward to an uncertain future,” Jan. 5-Jan. 11). 1) Thanks for the timely story. 2) There are no fees, the city agreed to waive the fees as ...
Letters To The Editor 1.5.12
Born to Run Good to know that Jason Burnett will run. Now who can we get to bump Dave Potter from the Board of Supervisors? (“Squid Fry,” Dec. 29-Jan. 4). Any real progressives out there ...
Letters to the Editor 12-29-11
The Nader Effect Nader reminds me of many charming, talented, ambitious, wily men from the Arabic-speaking world (“Nader Agha’s holdings span Monterey County, but he’s looking to conquer the world,” Dec. 15-21). Arabic is a ...
Letters to the Editor 12-22-11
Duck Tales This is the goofiest town (“Monterey debates future of Alvarado, starting with Mucky Duck,” Dec. 8-14). Does Monterey get that people who choose to live downtown are usually trying to get closer to ...
Letters To The Editor 12.15.11
Occupy Provocation That joker who refers to himself online as Klatsch is no joke (“Occupy protesters, and their nemeses, could use a chill pill,” Dec. 8-14). He has been disclosing personal and private identity of ...
Letters To The Editor 12.08.11
Smells Like Money In simple terms, the property that keeps methyl iodide from reaching the stratosphere where it could be an ozone problem is the fact that it is destroyed by ultra violet light in ...
Letters To The Editor 12.01.11
Cities by the Sea I was amused to read Squid’s review of my presentation to the Carmel Residents Association comparing Seaside to Carmel, written and published before the event, with erroneous assumptions as to the ...
Letters To The Editor 11.23.11
Nature Lovers Experiments are not needed because monarch nectar plant experts like myself, Jan Southworth, David Marriott, John Dayton and others have 40-plus years of testing and observation experience along the California coast (“Nectaring experiment ...
Letters To The Editor 11.17.11
Doesn’t The Monterey County Herald print your paper the Monterey County Coast [sic] Weekly? (“Squid Fry,” Nov. 10-16). Well, then why are you in bed with a company that is outsourcing?! - ginamonterey | via ...
Letters To The Editor 11.10.11
Poor Get Poorer “Let them eat cake” doesn’t quite measure up these days, does it? As the division of wealth between the have-nots and the have-everythings seems to be as wide as the Grand Canyon ...
Letters To The Editor 11.03.11
Bay View’s Shaky Start For all its educational innovation promise, Bay View Academy Board’s first major action (some of us dissented) was to fire the principal (“Bay View Academy board fires principal,” posted Oct. 26). ...
Letters To The Editor 10.27.11
Getting Along As someone who lives and works near the plaza, the issue was never “dirty people” or the fact people liked to hang out all day and enjoy a smoke and play music. (“City, ...
Letters To The Editor 10.20.11
Squida Culpa With regards to the ticketed Elkhorn Slough fisherman, I was surprised that you wrote tiger shark rather than leopard shark (“Squid Fry,” Oct. 13-19). Leopard sharks are very abundant in the slough. Obviously ...
Letters To The Editor 10.13.11
Unified Front The support and sponsorship of our local union, the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, was crucial in the sponsorship and adoption of this resolution at the CFT convention last March (“Current lobbying dollars ...
Letters To The Editor 10.06.11
Project Censored Speaking of censored stories, how about the non-coverage of the Wall Street protests organized by the group Occupy Wall Street (“Project Censored highlights the year’s most relevant ignored news,” Sept. 29-Oct. 5)? Twelve ...
Letters To The Editor 09.29.11
The Great Uncrowding Although Gov. Brown likes to cite other states’ attempts at similar legislation, nothing is comparable to what California, a beast like no other, is currently attempting to do (“More than 30,000 state ...
The Public Voice
Letters to the Editor 09-22-11
Into the Breach Many thanks to Kera Abraham for her excellent article on the continuing efforts to restore and preserve the Carmel Lagoon State Park (“Vinyl barrier brokers truce between enviros, homeowners on the Carmel ...
Letters To The Editor 09.15.11
Animal Style Regarding the proposal/attempt to lure In-n-Out Burger to Marina: Would not the city be much better served by approaching the likes of Trader Joe’s? (“Squid Fry,” Sept. 8-14.) Not only Marina, but the ...
Letters To The Editor 09.08.11
Law & Order: Seaside Get a dog, buy a gun, shove some dip under your lip, and sit in a rocking chair facing a window that you leave open on purpose (“Seaside burglaries on the ...
Letters To The Editor 09.01.11
Geographic Logic Your redux of real estate pricing was only mostly correct (“Salinas housing prices are about to plummet,” Aug. 25-31). “Salinas” in federal government number crunching means the whole of the Salinas metropolitan area; ...
Letters To The Editor 08.24.11
Open for Questioning I wish to thank you for your ongoing coverage of the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority’s (SVSWA) evaluation of our innovative, non-incineration plasma gasification technology as an alternative to landfilling (“Proposed trash-zapping ...
Letters To The Editor 08.11.11
Coal v. Nuke I am amazed at the resourcefulness of the Japanese after the tsunami and nuclear disaster (“A Study in Resolve,” Aug. 4-10). The sister aquarium to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Aquamarine Fukushima, lost ...
Letters To The Editor 08.04.11
Saving the Raccoons Thank you for including the SPCA’s voice in last week’s article (“Cute or Evil: A quest for raccoon truth,” July 28-Aug. 3). Unfortunately, the article left many of your readers believing SPCA’s ...
Letters To The Editor 07.28.11
Where’s the Beef Thursday I rushed out to get what I thought would be the California Rodeo edition of the Weekly and was disappointed to find “Sex for Sale” instead (“Tricks of the Trade,” July ...
Letters To The Editor 07.21.11
Thanks, Brett My husband and I would like to thank Brett Melone for his leadership at ALBA (“Farming incubator ALBA loses its director during its best season yet,” July 7-13). We would also like to ...
Letters To The Editor 07.14.11
Me and Mr. Jones I am not the only one who thinks that Hell’s Kitchen was truly based on [Chef] Michael Jones and the way he treats his guests and staff (“The low-down on high ...
Letters To The Editor 07.04.11
Squid Smackdown I notice Squid speaks a lot about fairness and equality in your writing (“Squid Fry,” June 30-July 6). Let’s talk about that. The name of this publication indicates that it is a news ...
Letters To The Editor 06.30.11
It’s Academic Bay View Academy will open August 15 (“Bay View Academy charter school finally finds space, and the students to fill it,” June 23-29). BVA has state and county approvals, grants and students, with ...
Letters To The Editor 06.23.11
Being Blunt Prohibition fuels crime. (“From the feds to the county, the confusion surrounding medical marijuana laws are enough to drive a girl to get stoned,” June 16-22). It makes no sense for taxpayers to ...
Letters To The Editor 06.16.11
Party On Reading the last paragraph of Squid’s commentary regarding “Moderate” Steve McShane was cathartic (“Squid Fry,” June 9-15). It’s disappointing that the Weekly so often relegates harsh, sound criticism of The Egregiously Absurd (TEA) ...
