GREEN AROUND THE GILLS… Green Party candidate Brook Madsen says he’s out of the race for state Senate. But he’s not leaving quietly. He’s going down shooting, guns a blazin’ and all those other out-with-a-bang clichés. Withdrawing from the race late last week, Madsen, a Carmel Valley electrician, endorsed San Luis Obispo County Supe Peg Pinard , the Democratic candidate for the 15th District seat, and blasted Republican “deceit and lies” which, he said, aid candidate Abel Maldonado , a Republican Assemblyman from Santa Maria. The local Reeps falsely claimed to be Green Party officials when they recruited Madsen to run, and paid his filing fees to qualify him for the ballot. Green Party officials confirm that in January, Paul Bruno , vice-chairman of the Monterey County Republican Central Committee, recruited Madsen in an effort to draw votes away from Pinard and elect Maldonado to office. Yup, the Republican party learned a lot from 2000 presidential elections. Thank you, Ralph Nader . Back in January, Madsen told the Herald: “I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m not sure I’m actually a Green.” So he’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Squid gives this Green, or whatever he is, credit for doing the right thing.

MCPHERSON V. WATER BOARD… State Sen. Bruce McPherson ’s plan to dump the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District Board of Directors and replace them with a panel of Peninsula mayors—called SB 1529 —will finally get its day in court. Alright, so Squid exaggerates. It’s really SB 1529’s day in hearing (“day in hearing” just doesn’t have the same umph) before the Senate Local Government committee, on April 21 (after Squid’s deadline). The elected water board recently voted to oppose McPherson’s proposal. But, surprise, surprise, the mayors sure do like the plan. McPherson met with the district over the weekend. Says one water board insider: “Brucie, flanked by [Seaside mayor and supervisorial candidate] Jerry Smith and [Monterey mayor] Dan Albert , is hell-bent on replacing the elected directors with the mayors.”

SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES… Squid loves family gatherings, particularly when they’re in high-tech, primo beachfront locales like the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories . So Squid gathered a coupla Squidlettes and slithered on over to the Lab for last weekend’s open house. It was a fine, deeply educational display of gadgets, carcasses, and cool things wriggling about under microscopes. Squid didn’t even mind the wallboard that suggested we mollusks were spineless creatures. Very punny indeed.

It was all a very warm and fuzzy hold-hands-and-sing-Kumbaya experience. Right up until Squid spotted the fish-painting table. No, it wasn’t about kiddies playing Van Gogh. It was about slopping wet paint on dead fish, bulging eyes and all, then rolling their stinky scaly bods onto butcher paper. “If you’re really careful, you can even get the scales on there,” one helpful guide pointed out. Woo-hoo. Scales. Now you’re talkin’. “Don’t make us do it,” one of the Squidlettes squealed. And so we left. After all, we mollusks may be spineless, but we know better than to play with our food.