Thursday, January 28
Khaki's to open in Carmel Plaza; Homescapes and Jan de Luz expand.
Carmel Plaza Shopping Center will play host to men's clothing store Khaki's and Homescapes plans a major expansion, while home furnishings shop Jan de Luz, which is currently in business in Carmel Valley will open ...
Stopping Bullets
Salinas holds second Ceasefire call-in
Two groups of gang members—one north, one south—took part in a Ceasefire call-in this afternoon in Salinas and were urged by victims of violence and law enforcement officials to stop shooting people. Thirty four gang ...
J.D. Salinger, reclusive author of "Catcher in the Rye,'' dies at 91.
The creator of Holden Caulfield was a revered chronicler of youth culture in a time of conformity, but shunned the spotlight and fame his work had brought him. For the first of what will be ...
Recipients
TOTAL DONATIONS: $529,336.85 ($429,336.85 reader contributions + $100,000 Weekly match) 1,609 donors, 709 age 35 or younger ARTS/CULTURE 1. Aditi Foundation: $634.95 ($515.00 reader contributions + $119.95 Weekly match) 10 donors, 2 age 35 or ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): Shakespeare got modest respect while he was alive, but his reputation as a brilliant bard didn’t come right away. It wasn’t until almost 50 years after he died that anyone thought ...
Love Haiti Relationship
Connecting with the disaster-struck by way of their tastiest dishes.
Eating Haitian food won’t directly aid earthquake survivors, and it isn’t a substitute for sending cash or other assistance. But eating Haitian for an evening is a way of paying attention to a brighter side ...
Media News “restructuring” is just more double-talk.
Given the biblical proportion of the headlines recently, it comes as almost comic relief that Dean Singleton, head honcho of Media News, the newspaper publishing conglomerate that owns The Monterey County Herald and 53 other ...
Squid Fry for Jan 28, 2010
Squid Fry for Jan 28, 2010
CANNING IT… Squid was once a Squidlet, and savors those rebellious and carefree days of youth. But Squid likes to believe that Squid can cherish those formative years while keeping a healthy sense of community ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen
ONGOING SALINAS READS WEEK | SALINAS – Partners for Peace is seeking volunteer readers and book donations for Salinas Reads Week, Feb. 9-12, when guest readers visit more than 20 elementary schools. Books can be ...
Soul Survival
Spirit of Uganda’s resilient exuberance spills over Sunset Center.
In traditional headdresses, leg rattles and grass raffia skirts, Rwandan children dance about ecstatically, smiles as wide as the log xylophone nearby. Adults stand before engoma drums, pounding out rhythms of war, courtship and hope. ...
Back in Black
CSUMB’s Black Box Cabaret returns after a semester in detention.
The reopening of the Black Box Cabaret at CSU Monterey Bay is a win for the students. Over the years, the campus venue has featured nationally known acts like Rebelution, Ben Kenney of Incubus, The ...
What would you do with $4,000?
Asked at the Monterey Airport.
Follow-up: What’s the most inspiring performance you’ve seen? RAJEN DRA NAIKER | Taxi Driver | Monterey A: I’ll keep it and use it some good places, spend it wisely. I’m driving to Texas, so it ...
Crazy Heart
Boozy Blues: Jeff Bridges gives the performance of his life as a haggard country singer in 'Crazy Heart.'
You’d never guess that Crazy Heart is the work of a first-time filmmaker, but it is, and while the story is as old and true as the broken-down country and western balladeer at the heart ...
Shipping News
Monterey Maritime Museum is reeling between past and present controversies.
The Monterey Maritime Museum is searching for buried treasure, avoiding mutiny and struggling to keep the ship afloat as it navigates a 12-18 month renovation that started in January. Experts are cataloguing its paintings, period ...
Tough Love For Fort Ord Real Estate Plan
DRO jilts Federal Development; developer wants to work it out.
Unlike Lady Gaga, Del Rey Oaks is trying to not get caught in a “Bad Romance.” After a seven-year relationship, the city recently broke up with Federal Development after the developer missed a Jan. 15 ...
Entertaining Ideas
A look at what Entertainment-Gathering goers got for $4 grand a pop.
There were moments in Monterey last Saturday when a room of hundreds held its breath with shared lungs. It happened as Marc-André Hamelin’s hands flew over keys of ivory like supernatural tarantulas, summoning thunder, then ...
New news on old news.
Budget Fix…During his State of the Budget address Jan. 25, Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue called for creating an overarching budget committee to gather input from various advisory groups and recommend how to plug the city's ...
Two Funny
Gabriel Iglesias and Eric Blake each unload a pair of comedy shows on Monterey County.
Rotund Mexican-American comedian Gabriel Iglesias does a clean act. If he swears, it’s rare, and in Spanish: a puta here, a pinche there. In short, the comedian can do funny without going into foul territory. ...
Foreclosure 101
Local homeowners are learning how to fight back against predatory lenders.
Ten years ago, Lauro and Yolanda Navarro moved with their six kids into a trailer on a 3-acre plot of land just east of Pajaro and planned to build their dream home. They had worked ...
Art Listings for Jan 28, 2010
Art Listings for Jan 28, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK ALVARADO GALLERY Bixby Bridge. Underwater worlds. Big Sur. The Monterey Peninsula is home to a plethora of treasures, and the exhibit starting today at Alvarado Gallery is a celebration of the well-known, ...
Whoah Zoe
The former Vermillion Lies star uncorks her own career.
To listen to Zoe Boekbinder’s Artichoke Perfume is to enter an alternate reality populated by dead tightrope walkers, typewriter girls struck down by San Francisco streetcars and freshwater turtles dreaming of a dip in the ...
Grease Clogs Green Transit
Regulations put the brakes on local biodiesel projects.
For a while there, Monterey County was rolling away from petroleum. The local transit agency planned to run buses on mustard seed oil, while a plant in Gonzales cranked out 100 percent biodiesel. All that ...
County’s Bounty
Money really does grow – if not on trees, in the capable hands of the local Community Foundation.
When Weekly CEO Bradley Zeve first planted the seed of this year’s Community Fund initiative, Community Foundation for Monterey County President and CEO Todd Lueders guessed it might raise about $70,000. “I’m glad I didn’t ...
Letters to the Editor for Jan 28, 2010
C.V. ROAD BATTER I’ll try one last time on this arcane subject (“Traffic Jam,” Squid Fry, Jan. 21-27) using a baseball analogy, since I coach girls softball. Let’s say you wanted to evaluate what kind ...
Opinion: One man’s take on his culture’s stereotypes
¡Ask a Mexican!
SPECIAL TACO BELL EDITION Why do so many Mexicans work for Taco Bell and El Pollo Loco? Don’t they know they only add a false credence to the belief that this is Mexican cuisine? The ...
A Lot to Digest at the Ecofarm Conference in Pacific Grove
From EcoFarm to Treebones, the buffet of important food stuff looks endless.
Sure, our food system is screwed, but it’s no small comfort that cuisine was a theme for the bright bulbs illuminating the exclusive Entertainment Gathering in Monterey last weekend (see story). The Galloping Gourmet – ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$575,000 Recent Sale 3512 Ocean Ave., Carmel Built: 1960 Size: 1,268 square feet Features: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage Amenities: Fireplace, sunken bath with jets, breakfast nook, vaulted ceilings Seller: Bank of New York ...
The Giving Tree
Monterey County comes together to support local nonprofits in the Weekly’s Community Fund drive.
Angel Contributor Linda Orr liked to help out quietly; the gifts of time and energy she gave local schools and children were anonymous. “She would do things with so many organizations,” remembers one friend, “and ...
Wednesday, January 27
Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States,'' passes away of a heart attack in Santa Monica.
The radical historian and veteran anti-war/civil rights activist Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States," "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal'' and "SNCC: The New Abolitionists'' among other works, died k in ...
MIIS experts warn of black-market Botox
The anti-wrinkle drug Botox contains tiny amounts of the deadly botulinum toxin, and a couple of local experts worry that it could fall into terrorist hands. Dr. Raymond Zilinskas and Dr. Kenneth Coleman, of the ...
Steve Jobs descends from the mountaintop to announce the long-awaited iPad.
For live blogging and coverage of the unveiling, and analysis of the new product, which he claims will fill the gap between laptops and smart phones, from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, ...
Monday, January 25
Arugula Rising
USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan woos EcoFarm audience.
USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan brought welcome zing to the 2010 EcoFarm gathering at Asilomar Conference Center on a damp Friday afternoon, Jan. 22. The high-level ag official talked about putting American families in touch ...
Budget Dilemma
Donohue calls for new committee to suggest budget fix
Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue today called for the creation of an overarching, budget committee to gather input from various advisory groups and recommend how to plug the city's more than $9 million budget hole. During ...
Seaside City Council approves Styrofoam ban.
Soon, perhaps, the dominant foam on Seaside beaches will be from the waves. On Thursday, Jan. 21, the Seaside City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the city's Environmentally Preferable Food Packaging Ordinance, which ...
Booze Money
Federal funds boost local vintners.
Alcohol may be a depressant, but wine is a stimulant for the economy, judging by the recent federal grant for local wine growers. The Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association received a $98,500 grant through ...
Former P.G. Chief Scott Miller to announce run for sheriff
Scott Miller, former police chief and councilman for Pacific Grove, says he will run for Monterey County sheriff, joining challenger Fred Garcia in a bid to unseat Sheriff Mike Kanalakis. “I respect the two previously ...
Friday, January 22
Highway 1 north of Ragged Point to close
A south county portion of Highway 1 north of Ragged Point Inn will be closed starting Sunday for two to three weeks due to roadway erosion, Caltrans announced. "This closure is necessary to bring in ...
Thursday, January 21
Monterey City Council Bans Smoking on Recreational Trail
The Monterey City Council voted unanimously to ban smoking on the city's recreational trail at its Tuesday, Jan 19 meeting The council didn't vote to ban smoking in parks, because, according to a report by ...
The Pacific Grove City Council mulls medical pot.
The Pacific Grove City Council voted unanimously for a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in town at its Wednesday, Jan 20 meeting. "I encouraged them to vote for it, because it's a time period ...
Indie TEDx event coming to MIIS
Although the official TED event has ditched Monterey for Long Beach, locals are organizing an independent version of TED on April 16 at Monterey Institute of International Studies. TEDxMonterey will feature inspirational speakers with live ...
Monterey County Weekly's coverage of the Copenhagen climate talks.
Learning to Count to 350 How the protest movement is changing the political temperature in Copenhagen. Dec. 10, 2009 / Rebecca Solnit Copenhagen, California Central Coast delegation floats ocean science to the Denmark climate talks. ...
New News on Old News
Carmel Council Race is on…Challenger Jason Burnett has formally announced his candidacy and his endorsement by three former Carmel mayors: Ken White, Charlotte Townsend, and Nancy Grace. Burnett faces long-time incumbents Paula Hazdovac and Gerard ...
Court Order
Measure O plaintiffs ordered to pay Salinas $229,000
In what may be the final blow in a more than six-year legal battle, a Monterey Superior Court judge ordered Measure O plaintiffs Angie Morfin Vargas and Mark Dierolf to pay the city of Salinas ...
Home Page
By The Numbers
$815,000 Recent Sale 87 Corona Road, Carmel Highlands Built: 1972 Size: 2,700 square feet Features: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms Amenities: Fireplace, ocean view, wrap-around deck, vaulted ceilings, bay windows Seller: Prust Trust Buyer: Richard Dierker ...
Full Plate
EcoFarm inspires, crabs start cracking and other relentless restaurant news.
There’s something major on the menu in Asilomar. Jules Dervaes will teach others how to approximate the success he’s had with his lil’ yard gardens: 3 tons of produce harvested, 1,000 gallons of biodiesel made ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): Philosopher David Pearce is committed to the abolition of suffering. While he acknowledges that we’ve got a long way to go before accomplishing that goal, he believes it’s possible, mostly with ...
Squid Fry for Jan 21, 2010
Squid Fry for Jan 21, 2010
WORD FROM THE WOODS… A Vermont tipster sent Squid some interesting tidbits on former CSU Monterey Bay president Peter Smith. Smith hasn’t hit local headlines since he resigned as assistant director general for education at ...
Fit for Change
Much of CrossFit’s exploding global movement was first flexed locally.
At 6 in the morning on this dead-end Sand City street, it’s dark. The air carries the sea and its salt, but the seagulls are still asleep. A handful of locals – a builder, a ...
What do you do when your self-esteem needs a boost?
Asked at the Barnyard in Carmel.
Follow-up: What is the key to a healthy self-image? JENNIFER HOLMES | Business Owner | Carmel A: I breathe. I try to remember all of my strengths rather than focusing on my weaknesses. I remind ...
Styrofoam To Go (Away, That Is)
Polystyrene ban spreads to Seaside, unincorporated county.
The wave of municipal action against Styrofoam is sweeping the county. On Thursday, Jan. 21, the Seaside City Council will hold a public hearing on an ordinance to ban take-out polystyrene containers. Sustainable Seaside member ...
Art Listings for Jan 21, 2010
Art Listings for Jan 21, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK Alternative Café Kunstkammer: This home-grown art opening named after Peter the Great’s chamber of curiosities combines sculptures and prints by ex-Monterey resident Kim Boekbinder with mixed media and pen and ink works ...
¡Ask A Mexican! for Jan 21, 2010
One man's take on his culture's stereotypes
Dear Mexican: Half-Mexican here. I was fortunate enough to catch your column while I was visiting for the holidays. I have a comment in regards to [the gabacho who wrote the letter] Sick of All ...
Pain Train
A window into a week of CrossFit workouts.
The man in the Porsche adds an unsolicited prediction when asked to confirm that this unmarked corrugated garage is CrossFit’s county headquarters. “Yep,” he says. “They’re going to kick your ass.” As it turns out, ...
Extraordinary Measures
Medical Miracles: 'Extraordinary Measures' is a surprisingly effective melodrama about a little-known ailment.
In the surprisingly effective Extraordinary Measures, two action movie stars face an insurmountable foe, and just about every step they take is met with resistance and difficulty. For Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones) and Brendan Fraser ...
Body of Work
Carmel woman’s new 'The Body Love Manual' navigates how to survive self-loathing slimmed down and amped up.
Some who pick up Elizabeth “Lily” Hills new book The Body Love Manual may be struck by a seeming contradiction in its subtitle: How to Love the Body You Have as You Create the Body ...
Rebel Meds
Maverick local doctors and therapists prescribe a wellness coup.
For the peasant women of a Himalayan village in 1974, it took a logging threat to inspire the first act of tree-hugging. For East German church-goers in 1989, a prayer service in the streets helped ...
Moving to Plan H
Carmel Valley debates about growth and local control rage beyond Measure G.
They could be licking their wounds on Measure G’s narrow defeat. But instead, the smart-growthers of Carmel Valley are spinning the November election as a success of sorts, noting the record 73 percent turnout after ...
Wholly Healthy
Nonprofit Serrena battles chronic disease with a pioneering blend of natural and conventional therapy.
Lisa Gebo lives with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She’s had the disease for four years, and it’s spread to her bones, liver, lungs and brain. She currently undergoes chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which involve injections ...
City of Monterey and others take another look at reducing CalPERS costs.
With many Monterey County cities still feeling the economic slump, city officials are looking at lessening the looming tab of public safety employee pensions. In closed session on Jan. 19, Monterey City Manager Fred Meurer ...
Stirring the Pot
Mary Jane moratorium urged for city of Monterey.
The debate over medical marijuana in Monterey County has moved to the city of Monterey, where the City Council voted 4-to-1 Tuesday, Jan. 19 for a 45-day moratorium on medical pot dispensaries after hearing from ...
Letters to the Editor for Jan 21, 2010
VIEW FROM CASTROVILLE Thanks for the fine article (“Gun Control,” Jan. 14-20). Why are taxpayers paying Fred Garcia while he is suspended for three months? That is stupid: Either fire him, or put him back ...
Haitian Helpers
Peace Corps, NPS, MIIS officials and ordinary local citizens try to do their part.
The 7.0 Haitian earthquake shook the Marina home of Francine Marshall Rodd, thousands of miles from the temblor’s epicenter. The former Haiti Peace Corps director heard the news via e-mail and prayed it wasn’t true. ...
Seeds of Change
Gridlock in Copenhagen conference halls, green gumption on the streets.
It was quite a farcical scene outside Copenhagen’s Bella Center during the final days of negotiations at COP-15 (the United Nations Convention on Climate Change). While the rest of Europe was hit with pre-Christmas blizzards ...
Dynasty Restaurant
Dim Sumpin’: Dynasty Restaurant pours good Chinese on Pacific Grove.
Having grown up in Singapore and lived for years in Seattle, I’ve been spoiled by authentic regional Chinese cuisine ranging from Sichuan and Cantonese to Hong Kong and Chiu Chow. I eschew glow-in-the-dark sweet and ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen
THURSDAY 1|21 CARMEL WOMEN’S LUNCHEON | CARMEL VALLEY—The Carmel Republican Women Federated hosts a meeting with speaker Edelweiss Geary. 11:30 social. Noon lunch. Rancho Canada Golf Club, 4860 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley. $20 members/$25 ...
God Metal
Grammy-nominated Red helps rock in a new era of Christian music at the Golden State – hard.
Christian rock was once considered nothing more than a long-running joke, but with bands like Switchfoot, Relient K and Skillet consistently garnering millions in album and ticket sales, it’s become one of this country’s most ...
Creative Space
Many of the world’s brightest minds rally to downtown Monterey for the TED-esque Entertainment Gathering.
It becomes easier to understand why a YouTube video channel about tracing the origins of English words has garnered more than 17 million hits when you see the host, Marina Orlova, a 29-year-old Russian with ...
Award Winners
A star-studded lineup of local leading lights earn recognition as Arts Council for Monterey County’s Champions of the Arts.
At the 67th Golden Globe awards last Sunday, Mo’Nique clipped Penelope Cruz for best supporting actress; Avatar earned best picture; Michael C. Hall won best actor for Showtime’s Dexter; and Robert Downey Jr. seized not ...
Wednesday, January 20
Is opportunity knocking for medical pot clubs? Or is that the sound of a slamming door?
The Monterey City Council voted four to one for a 45-day moratorium on medical pot clubs after hearing from a parade of mostly pro-pot speakers on Tuesday, Jan 19. Monterey is the fifth city in ...
CHISPA awarded $5 million to fix up foreclosed homes
CHISPA has received a $5 million federal grant to buy and renovate about 55 foreclosed homes in the cities of Salinas, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City and Hollister, the affordable housing builder announced today. The ...
Worst of storm is over, forecaster says
Yesterday's heavy downpours and frequent lightning strikes aren't expected to hit the county today or the rest of the week, says Monterey-area National Weather Service forecaster Brian Tentinger. "For the most part, the rains and ...
Tuesday, January 19
Seaside City Council meeting videos to be archived online.
Last spring, the city of Seaside came out of the electronic Dark Ages with a new, user-friendlier website. Now it's taking another step to improve public access: posting Video on Demand archives of City Council ...
Smalley's Roundup to open new location
Smalley's Roundup, which has been serving BBQ in Salinas for 35 years, will have a grand opening for its new location on Jan. 26. Smalley's new spot is 1190 South Main St., former home of ...
Friday, January 15
Minke Meat
Stanford study finds Antarctic whale population is not booming.
A new study led by Hopkins Marine Station Director Steve Palumbi punches a blowhole in a scientific debate about minke whale numbers. Experts have wondered whether 20th century hunting of large whales may have benefitted ...
Condor Conservation
Pinnacles and Argentina park team up to protect condors
The Pinnacles National Monument and a national park in Argentina had a ceremonial signing today, creating a sister park agreement to promote endangered condor recovery programs. The signing with Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito was ...
Thursday, January 14
Deal or No Deal?
Salinas City Council wants new agreement with Leidig's development group
Reeling in a deal to redevelop Salinas' downtown has once again hit a snag. In closed session Tuesday night, the City Council terminated its exclusive negotiating rights agreement with Salinas Renaissance Partners, a development group ...
Reggie's Game
Mr. October talks about the game he loved, his father and steroid use in the majors.
"Somtimes you gotta just let a hungry dog eat!" This was baseball Hall-of-Famer slugger Reggie Jackson's answer to a young fan's question on what it feels like to get a good pitch. The first good ...
Classic Cases
Peter Toth and the Borromeo String Quartet give Carmel a majestic weekend of music.
German composer Paul Hindemith often asked, “How can anyone ever be a master of music?” But Hindemith’s question finds an answer in the impeccable barrage of strings that open the allegro of his Symphonic Metamorphosis ...
A Single Man
Tour de Ford: 'A Single Man' is a perfectly rendered adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel about love and loss.
George Falconer (Colin Firth) is a middle-aged, British expat teaching at university in sunny southern California in 1962. A closeted homosexual by cultural necessity, he’s possessed of monumental outward conformity. Inside, however, beats the heart ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): The Earth’s north magnetic pole is not the same as the geographic North Pole. If you take out a compass to orient yourself toward due north, the compass arrow will actually ...
Gun Control
Mike Kanalakis’ critics are up in arms, but he’s running for re-election anyway.
Sheriff Mike Kanalakis doesn’t come across as a bully: He smiles, returns phone calls from the media, and clearly cares about protecting the county he grew up in. But it’s also clear that in his ...
The national cold spell goes beyond the weather report.
It’s been one of those rare cultural and political moments when seemingly unrelated events come together to capture a cultural mood. The release of the movie Up in the Air, starring George Clooney as a ...
New news on old news
Sollecito Sequel…The chief is out, the interim chief is out, and the retired chief is in at Seaside Police Department. Former chief Steve Cercone ended his tenure Jan. 1, interim Stephen Willis got his walking ...
Clouds in Carmel
Mayor, City Council members face challenges after a year of controversy.
Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud was practically raised at City Hall; her detractors fear she’ll never leave. The five-term mayor recalls celebrating her confirmation under the wooden beams of the City Council chambers when it was ...
Opinion: One man’s take on his culture’s stereotypes
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m surprised by the choice of the word “amnesty” by those who would demonize immigration reform, especially in the South. Doesn’t the modern well-being of many Southerners derive in some way from their ...
The Lovely Bones
The Children’s Hour: 'The Lovely Bones' portrays a suburb of the martyred, but Peter Jackson fails to get heavenly.
About seven years before he entered the pantheon of fantasy with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson made a movie called Heavenly Creatures. Even though it was one of the very best films ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen
ONGOING ROTARY PROPOSALS | MONTEREY COUNTY—The Rotary Club of Monterey Pacific is seeking funding proposals from local 501(c)3 organizations with “a demonstrated ability to provide meaningful and measurable ongoing benefits to the residents of the ...
Letters to the Editor for Jan 14, 2010
MYSTERIOUS STRANGER Sometimes it feels like I’m keeping better track of what local writers say than they are themselves. Leading up to the last mayoral election in Carmel, Squid slammed a mystery candidate. Now (“Squid ...
Data Rush
New tsunami maps help emergency planners prepare for coastal flooding.
Signs of a tiny human in uphill flight from an enormous wave remind users of Pacific Grove’s Recreation Trail what to do in case of a tsunami: Run to higher ground. But the latest data ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$240,000 recent Sale 606 Rusconi Drive, Soledad Built: 2007 Size: 1,688 square feet Features: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage Amenities: Fireplace, gourmet kitchen with new appliances, large landscaped yard Seller: UCP Soledad Limited Buyer: ...
Singular Talent
Kim “Vermillion” Boekbinder visits East Village as her solo career trampolines across the creative canvas.
“You know what?” Kim Boekbinder says. “I’m just going to give you some dirt, because I feel like it.” As Vermillion Lies, Kim and her sister Zoe Boekbinder formed a part-cabaret, part-folk, part-performance art music ...
Squid Fry for Jan 14, 2010
Squid Fry for Jan 14, 2010
MAN TROUBLE… What were they smoking? Squid chuckled to Squidself upon hearing that folks have been ringing up Detective Burt Ayles at his office – at the Watsonville Police Department, no less – to inquire ...
Grass Gets Greener
Pot parlors abandon Sand City, head to Monterey and Pacific Grove.
Jhonrico Carrnshimba may prove the old adage that it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission—at least when it comes to medical marijuana. In November, the Sand City Council said no to a pitch by would-be ...
Library 2.0
From Guitar Hero to eBooks, the catalog of interesting adaptations at area bibliotecas is impressive.
Once upon a time libraries were tranquil places of solemn study, scored by the gentle crinkle of pages turning, hushed voices and the whir of the microfiche machine. No longer. John Steinbeck Library, administered by ...
Saigon Noodle
Grandma Sunshine: A family matriarch fills Saigon Noodle with slow-simmered flavor.
Any Vietnamese cook will tell you that a good broth is the cornerstone of pho, the ubiquitous noodle soup you’ll find at every noodle soup spot, whether in Vietnam or in the U.S. I know ...
What is the most useless law in place?
Asked at Monterey Public Library.
Follow-up: What is the biggest obstacle law enforcement faces? FRANK VILLA | Tile Contractor | Pacific Grove A: Pissing in public. When you gotta go pee and you can’t go anywhere, what are you gonna ...
Power Planting
Big changes appear to be emerging from the organic dirt at Earthbound Farm.
When a green giant takes a big step, it usually makes a little noise. But as locally sown Earthbound Farm, the largest organic grower on the globe, stopped planting produce on its flagship 5-acre Carmel ...
Good News, Bad News
CSUMB officials relieved at stanching of cuts, MPC takes wait-and-see stance.
After a semester of fewer class offerings, higher tuition and frequent furlough days, Cal State Monterey Bay junior Adrienne Brown likes the prospect of greener budget times. “It’s sad that we are paying more money ...
Art Listings for Jan 14, 2010
Art Listings for Jan 14, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK Alternative Café Kunstkammer: This home-grown art opening named after Peter the Great’s chamber of curiosities combines sculptures and prints by ex-Monterey resident Kim Boekbinder with mixed media and pen and ink works ...
With a plethora of dead pets, it’s no wonder kiddies are traumatized by their learning literature.
The first book that ever made me cry told the story of an egg-sucking, ringwormy male with one ear chewed off. Did I mention he was yellow? And I was 6? Fred Gipson’s Old Yeller ...
Community groups rally to keep public facilities afloat.
Salinas is heading toward a new chapter in fiscal insolvency: turning over as many as three recreation centers, a brand-new pool, concert hall and convention grounds to outside groups. On Jan. 13 (past the Weekly’s ...
Wednesday, January 13
Don't Waste Food
First apartment composting program comes to Salinas
In what will be the first apartment composting program in the Salinas Valley, kitchen scraps at Sherwood Village Senior Apartments in Salinas will soon be converted to compost, according to affordable home builder CHISPA. CHISPA, ...
Local cities score D's and F's on American Lung Association's 2009 report card.
The American Lung Association may have to call Monterey County's parents. ALA's 2009 State of Tobacco Control report card, released Jan. 12, gives F's to every city in Monterey County except Salinas, which along with ...
Tuesday, January 12
Candidate Jason Burnett kicks off drive to unseat a City Council incumbent.
The 33-year old Burnett is so far the only challenger to City Council incumbents Paula Hazdovac and Gerard Rose, who have served 15 and nine years respectively. Burnett is a former EPA deputy administrator who ...
Dam Deal
The San Clemente Dam removal plan is almost cemented.
The plan to remove San Clemente Dam is flowing again. On Jan. 11, officials including federal and state agency representatives, U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) and state Assemblyman Bill Monning (D-Carmel) signed an agreement with ...
Conan O'Brien says hell no, he won't go to a later slot on NBC.
In the latest development in a pop culture week that has also seen Simon Cowell's announcement that he will (gasp) be leaving "American Idol,'' Conan O'Brien roundly rejected NBC's proposal that he move "The Tonight ...
Monday, January 11
RIP Dogman McBill
The Carmel character and two-time mayoral candidate known as Dogman McBill is dead at 63.
Dogman's real name was William Clement Winfield II. Just weeks before he died he said he'd make a "third time's the charm" mayoral run, referring to his two previous contests against incumbent Carmel Mayor Sue ...
Don't Ask, Don't Watch
Supreme Court bars broadcast of the Prop. 8 trial.
The gay marriage revolution will not be televised. Or put on YouTube. On Monday, Jan. 11, just hours before the start of a federal trial considering the legality of California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, ...
Retired Seaside police chief returns to the post.
The chief is out, the interim chief is out, and now the retired chief is in. That's the head-turning sequence of events at Seaside Police Department, where ongoing personnel issues have rearranged the power structure ...
Sunday, January 10
Dinner and a Movie
Saturday, Jan. 9, Cannery Row IMAX hosted the NO-GMO Film Festival, revolving around genetically modified food.
The four documentary films--The Future of Food, Food, Inc., The Power of Community and The World According to Monsanto--ran back to back from 11am to 6pm, drawing about 300 attendees throughout the day, said Event ...
Friday, January 8
Fort Ord's first civilian gas station to break ground
A new Shell gas station next to the Ord Market will break ground on Monday. The Shell station will be the first civilian gas pumps to open on the former military, building upon another "first" ...
Thursday, January 7
California cities to Sacramento: Hey, that's our money!
A statewide coalition wants California legislators to stop borrowing from local cities, counties, and transit agencies to balance the state budget. On Thursday, Jan. 7, Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue, along with other Central Coast elected ...
Human potential leader and Esalen Institute scholar George Leonard dies
George Leonard, a clairvoyant human potential icon and co-founder of the Esalen Institute's research arm, died yesterday at the age of 86 in his Mill Valley home, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "He was a ...
Police unsure what killed P.G. woman, found dead on shoreline.
A woman's dead body was found on the shoreline at Ocean View Avenue and Fifth Street on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 6, according to a Pacific Grove Police Department press release. The woman was ...
The Buzz
New News on Old News
Steppin' Up…Locally hatched eco-home certification program StepUp2Green is gaining momentum: CHISPA may adopt SU2G as a base standard for its projects, according to program mastermind Michael Waxer. The first 10 homeowners to contact Carmel design ...
¡Ask A Mexican! for Jan 07, 2010
One man's take on his culture's stereotypes
SPECIAL BEST-OF EDITION Dear Readers: The Mexican is still trying to shake off the Herradura from the previous year, so I’m reprinting this week a favorite column of mine from el pásado. To make up ...
No Hummer, Baby
A new, post-dysfunctional day is dawning in Del Rey Oaks politics.
Del Rey Oaks has ditched its mayoral perks, traded in the police chief’s Hummer, and tempered a staff revolt – all in a matter of months. The turnaround, which stands in sharp contrast to the ...
Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Company
Coffee, Reconsidered: A homegrown Carmel company takes its java game in interesting directions.
Numbers offer a rich whiff of Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Company’s success. On average, 1,500 customers visit one of CVCRC’s four locations daily. Director of Coffee and Tea Tina Muia roasts about 1.75 tons of ...
Squid Fry for Jan 07, 2010
Squid Fry for Jan 07, 2010
MONARCHS GO SOUTH… Squid was enjoying a little Central Coast vacation, trailing tentacles in the Pismo State Beach sand, when Squid stumbled upon the town’s Monarch Butterfly Grove. Tens of thousands of orange-and-black beauties clustered ...
Last Blast
Local promoter Tobin Peregrina closes his Jose’s chapter with an aptly raucous indie-rock show.
A sexy, French punk rock girl air-humps on top of the bar; a Danish metal band ventures from the stage to drink audience members’ beer (while continuing to play); shock rockers, dressed like warthogs, drench ...
A New Day
Fast-rising regional stars of Forrest Day join Battlehooch at Fernwood on the eve of debut CD.
Forrest Day’s songs are tailor-made for the stage. The seven-piece San Francisco band’s “Secret,” for example, features chanted vocals, two horns that underscore the stomp of the track and a beat that hits as hard ...
Letters to the Editor for Jan 07, 2010
POTSHOTS I think Tom Dominy (“Letters,” Dec. 30-Jan. 6) is very naive to suggest mail order distribution would be viable “when pot is legalized.” Tom, if pot is ever legalized, the enormous tobacco industry will ...
Youth in Revolt
Revolting Rendition: Teen flick reinforces gender clichés without redeeming wit or intelligence.
Oh, someone deliver us from boys and their self-entitlement, boys and their cluelessness, boys and their rage when male privilege fails to extend itself toward them in a manner they deem proper. If boys don’t ...
Art Listing for Jan 07, 2010
Art Listing for Jan 07, 2010
HAPPENING THIS WEEK interim, inc. in Downtown Monterey Breakthrough H’Art: On Dec. 22, Interim Inc., a nonprofit that provides support services and housing for people with mental disabilities and illness, moved into a previously empty ...
Count Your Blessings
Rob Brezsny on God, media and why we’re better off than you think.
Rob Brezsny looks to the stars. “There’s big sky here,” he says, his all-black Converse high-tops planted on the second-story deck of his Marin County home, his wavy gray hair falling further down the back ...
Another Dimension
A CSUMB boot camp channels the increasing power of 3-D.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology,” Arthur C. Clarke said, “is indistinguishable from magic.” James Cameron’s groundbreaking sci-fi epic, Avatar, makes a compelling case on Clarke’s behalf. The fact that its setting, Pandora, a faraway planet covered ...
Food for Thought
Seaside Farmers Market postponed; chamber director steps down.
It was so close we could taste it. But less than two weeks before its planned Jan. 15 launch, the TGIF farmers market has been pushed back to sometime in March. Seaside-Sand City Chamber of ...
NPS grad cites gender bias, other problems in latest airline security flap.
Deirdre Walker was thinking hard about airport security long before the Christmas Day bombing attempt that could have brought down a Northwest Airlines jet traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit. “I was deeply troubled and angry,” ...
Reforms are needed to protect the California dream.
As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year this week, California continues to confront a state of dire emergency. The governor is expected to ask for billions of dollars in ...
Raw Deal
Fishing for sustainable sushi and un-engineered eats.
Drums can help heal the heart, drive the dance floor and, now – at the flip-floppin’ new Yama Sushi (646-9262) – prep the palate. A welcoming percussive thumper stands by the door of the Del ...
Real Estate
By The Numbers
$330,000 Recent Sale 45090 Merritt St., King City Built: 1980 Size: 2,134 square feet Features: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2-car garage, 1 acre Amenities: Deck and hot tub in back, fireplace, wood floors, vaulted ceilings ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen
FRIDAY 1|8 ORD REDEVELOPMENT | MARINA—The Fort Ord Reuse Authority meets. 3:30pm. FORA Conference Facility, 201 13th St., Marina. 883-3672. www.fora.org. MONDAY 1|11 ISRAEL-PALESTINE MEDIA COVERAGE | MONTEREY—The Monterey Peace and Justice Center presents Peace, ...
What hopes, fears or predictions do you have for the next decade?
Asked at Papa Chano’s Taqueria in Sand City.
Follow-up: What are you sure won’t change? BRANDON CEGELSKE | Student | Marina A: I hope to see hover cars because they have been promised to us so many times and we never get them. ...
Tough to Swallow
NO-GMO Film Festival rolls out documentaries that dive into food production’s dark places.
Do you know what’s in your food? Do you know how it was raised? Processed? And by whom? Those are some of the questions the four documentaries of the NO-GMO Film Festival, playing Saturday, Jan. ...
SSPD Shrinks
Seaside’s interim police chief is latest to go as political infighting continues.
The Seaside Police Chief’s badge has become a hot potato in recent months. Only a few days after former Seaside Police Chief Steve Cercone officially relinquished his post, City Manager Ray Corpuz gave his temporary ...
Sustainable Stay
Proposed Fort Ord hostel has green ambitions for a long-abandoned property.
The property has an eerie feel. But the paint-chipped buildings, shattered windows and sun-parched shrubs belie a vision for new life in Fort Ord. The plan is to turn three asbestos-ridden structures and the surrounding ...
On Something
Rob Brezsny doesn’t do drugs, but advocates all sorts of mind-expanding activities for others.
On Authenticity I studied acting with Mamet way back before he got huge. He was a method actor. He would say, to be a good actor, how important it is not get lost in your ...
Brezsny's Astrology
Free Will Astrology
Aries (March 21-April 19): According to my reading of the astrological omens, it’ll be a hair-on-fire kind of week for you – and yet also a heart-in-repose kind of week. In other words, you have ...
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
Parnassus Heights: Terry Gilliam’s imagination is in full flight in film with inspired performances by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp and Lily Cole.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a patented Terry Gilliam special, a remedial children’s bedtime tale for anxious grown-ups. Gilliam, particularly when he’s collaborating with writer Charles McKeown (Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), loves ...
Wednesday, January 6
Regulate, ban, or delay? Those are the choices facing PG and Monterey as they consider local pot clubs.
Monterey County now has its first medicinal marijuana storefront—on Lighthouse Avenue in the city of Monterey. Its debut surprised city officials. "We just found out it was there yesterday, and we're kinda looking into it," ...
Halfway through its fiscal year, Monterey is $1.7 mllion short of a balanced budget.
The City Council voted Tuesday, Jan. 5 to make up for the shortfall by shifting funds designated for neighborhood improvements to its general operating budget. City officials plan to replace that money in July 2010, ...
Tuesday, January 5
Farr secures $700,000 for Central Coast food and shelter program
Rep. Sam Farr announced this morning $700,000 in Central Coast funds for the federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program, including $384,153 for Monterey County. "California is suffering badly from the continuing economic crisis, and these ...
Monday, January 4
Mother Murdered
Victim in Santa Cruz murder was a Monterey Peninsula local.
The victim of a murder-suicide at a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven was a Monterey Peninsula local, Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Nichole "Nikki" Schrock, 24, was allegedly shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, Illya Cavlan of San ...
Sunday, January 3
Giovane's Closes
Salinas restaurant and live music venue Giovane's doesn't survive the economy.
Last Sunday evening, just three days into the new year, a brief, gracious email was sent by Randy and Sarah Young, proprietors of Giovane's, signaling a sore change in the county's music scene: "Hi, Just ...
Saturday, January 2
Happy New Year: Wise Words from an Elder
The Decade in Review: Daniel Schorr of NPR offers his unique viewpoint.
Few journalists can deliver like NPR's Daniel Schorr, who's been a working reporter for over 60 years, earning his stripes under CBS's famed Edward Murrow. Last week, on December 30, 2009, he offered this commentary ...
Steppin' Up
Step Up 2 Green's eco-home certification picks up steam.
Even if you're a lower-income homeowner, emerald status may be within your grasp. Less than a year after its formal launch, the locally hatched eco-home certification program StepUp2Green is gaining momentum. SU2G is unique because, ...
Friday, January 1
Salinas' last general bookstore to close
B. Dalton, Salinas' last general, corporate bookstore, will close by the end of the month. Company spokeswoman Carolyn Brown says the closure of the Northridge Mall store is part a national shutdown of 50 B. ...
