STYROFOAM BAN BLOWS FORWARD… Now that the Monterey Regional Waste Management District has signed off on a ban of polystyrene take-out containers, activists and lobbyists are making their arguments before city councils [“Foam Wars,” Feb. 21-27]. On April 15 the Marina City Council directed staff to research a potential ban and draft an ordinance. The next day, the Pacific Grove City Council unanimously approved the ban, with final passage expected May 7. [KA]

SPRAY DEBATE GOES MICROSCOPIC… The state is gearing up to re-spray Monterey County, beginning June 1, with a synthetic pheromone product that disrupts the mating of light brown apple moths. The spray is part of the state’s multi-pronged approach to eradicate the pest [“LBAM Plans for 2008,” Jan. 24-30]. On April 16, Monterey City Councilmember Jeff Haferman and Dennis Knepp, both engineers, asserted that the product contains small particles that can cause health problems. The state maintains the spray is safe. [KA]

EIR GETS DEVELOPER’S THUMBS DOWN… As first reported April 10 at montereycountyweekly.com, developer Al Williams has rejected the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Rancho Cañada development in Carmel Valley, saying the EIR was poorly done. The planned subdivision would place 281 new units, half of them designated affordable, on 81 acres east of the intersection of Highway 1 and Carmel Valley Road. Read the full story online. [KA]

CARMEL’S AL GORE?… As first reported April 10 at montereycountyweekly.com, the Monterey County Democrats will help Carmel-by-the-Sea residents contest the April 8 city election because of a ballot error that may have cost Michael LePage a seat on the City Council. In the official finalized tally, challenger LePage, the only Democrat running for the non-partisan position, trailed second-place winner, incumbent Ken Talmage, by only 22 votes, or 1.6 percent. Read the full story online. [KA]

KEHOE’S SPIRIT LIVES ON… The Salinas City Council has agreed to negotiate exclusively with Widewaters Group, a Syracuse-based firm, along with Carmel developer Robert Leidig, for an Oldtown redevelopment project that would include a new city hall and police station [“New Plans for Oldtown Salinas,” March 27-April 2]. The project area now includes the hotel site on the 100 block of Main Street. The city got “Kehoed” on the hotel project earlier this month after a group of local ag leaders backed out of the mixed-use development, à la Gerry Kehoe, a smooth-talking businessman who had big plans for a four-years-in-the-works hotel project that never materialized. As previously reported, Kehoe still is trying to open a nightclub and restaurant at the bank building he owns at 201 Main St. [ZS]