ICE CREAM HEADACHE… Squid’s sunk pretty low to find the hard news around Pacific Grove– carousing bars in the once-dry hometown, wading through forums on animal dung, rubbing shoulders with City Hall’s loathed change agents.

It seems, however, that Squid nearly missed P.G.’s biggest scoop. One that not only merited headlines in the Pine Cone and Herald, but also made KSBW’s news and sparked outrage on online message boards.

Squid isn’t talking about P.G.’s recent move to pull out of the state pension fund, though that did get The Wall Street Journal’s attention. This story is bigger. Creamier. And, apparently, hotter than a waffle cone iron.

Reportedly, P.G. Ice Cream Shoppe owner and prattling anti-war Beatlesnik Gary Ozuna insulted Army Sgt. Derek Williams and his wife Courtney, a Defense Language Institute student, soon after they snubbed his spendy ice cream on Veteran’s Day. The Williamses claim Ozuna made them unwelcome, blaming them for dead Iraqi babies; Ozuna says he was merely denouncing the war.

Regardless, soon Ozuna’s ice cream supplier was threatening to embargo him, P.G. Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar was scrubbing the city’s image, Mayor Dan Cort and wife Beth were buttering up Sgt. Williams, and a profusely apologetic Ozuna was offering free scoops of ice cream to the military– along with $150 in freeze for the Williamses.

But the cosmic pinball had been launched, and for a few drippy days, Ozuna became a national symbol of all the leftist Lennon-heads who blame soldiers for the atrocities of a corrupt and senseless war. Consider him one more casualty.

CAMPAIGN DREAMS… Once upon a time, long, long ago (like, up through the November election) Squid felt something other than sardines squirming inside Squid’s belly. Obama would be president! The U.S. would see healthcare reform! And clean energy! And diplomacy! Was this strange, new feeling (gasp!) optimism?

But then, the fear and anxiety, spurred by a worldwide economic meltdown, set in. Squid’s simply hoping for… the best?

At 4pm Jan. 10, local Democrats will open their new permanent headquarters, the Center For Change, at 60 Bonifacio Plaza, Monterey, to fanfare and speechgiving by Rep. Sam Farr, Assemblyman Bill Monning, Monterey County Democratic Party Chair Vinz Koller and Monterey County Democrats’ Communications Director Spencer Critchley.

Squid hopes they’ve got a few ideas about solving the budget fiascos– hope felt good.