LOCAL BUSINESSES FOLD… The economic downturn is forcing some of the area’s most beloved independent businesses to pack up and move on. Carmel’s Trajan Gallery closed at the end of December, and Pacific Grove’s Mélange Restaurant served its final dinner Jan. 10. Gardiner’s Resort, the tennis club in Carmel Valley, is shuttered after 51 years. Carmel’s Monster Video, along with too many other independent flick peddlers nationwide, is going the way of dinosaurs in late January. “Come by with cash and a wheelbarrow and buy lots of movies,” says owner Steve Andre. [KA]

VARGAS V. SALINAS… The Supreme Court of California is scheduled Feb. 3 to hear arguments for a case that alleges the city of Salinas illegally spent taxpayers’ money to campaign against a 2002 ballot measure. The appeal, filed by Angie Morfin Vargas and Mark Dierolf, stems from the pair’s unsuccessful campaign to pass Measure O, which would have repealed the city’s utility tax. The city says it rightfully used a newsletter and its website to inform residents of Measure O’s $8 million budget impact. The Supreme Court will finally put this six-year battle to rest. [ZS]

CLEANING UP AFTER STONERS… In fall 2007 we reported the pollution problem of marijuana cultivation on remote public lands, including Los Padres National Forest. Law enforcement officials confiscate the pot but leave the trash – often including pesticides and other hazardous materials. In spring 2008 the Forest Service agreed to let Ventana Wilderness Alliance volunteers clean up the trashed pot gardens. VWA recently began its third cleanup of the year, this one in the Carmel River’s Miller Fork drainage, where Forest Service officers eradicated up to 8,000 plants last September. To help, visit www.ventanawild.org/projects/grow-site/[KA]

HACKING AWAY… As the state budget crisis continues, CSU Monterey Bay (along with the entire CSU system) recently announced a hiring freeze and other cost-saving measures. The 23-campus system has also cancelled non-critical equipment and supply purchases, tightened restrictions on employee travel and implemented a salary freeze for all vice president/vice chancellor-level positions and above, including campus presidents and the chancellor. The hiring freeze doesn’t apply to essential positions. At CSUMB, however, the salary freeze may extend below the vice-president level. [JL]