P.G. Backfills…The city of Pacific Grove can’t seem to keep its councilmembers. At a special meeting June 1, the City Council appointed Dan Miller, one of seven applicants, to replace Deborah Lindsay, who resigned for family reasons in early May. Miller will only serve until November, when six of seven seats are up for election. [KA]

Campaign Cha-Ching…Sheriff Mike Kanalakis raised more than $63,000 in the past two months, surpassing retired Cmdr. Fred Garcia, who brought in nearly $57,000, and walloping former Pacific Grove police chief Scott Miller, with only $9,400. [ZS]

Fossil Bags…A state bill to ban single-use grocery bags, AB 1998, is headed to a full Assembly vote Friday, June 4. The bill would ban all single-use grocery and drug store bags, including those made of paper, petro-plastic and biodegradable plastic, and force a shift to reusable bags. [KA]

Oil-Bot Mission…On May 28, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute launched a high-tech robotic submersible into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will collect data on the nature and extent of oil plumes beneath the ocean's surface in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster. [KA]

Budget Battle…Carmel City Councilmen Jason Burnett and Ken Talmage think it’s wrong to tap reserves to plug an $800,000 budget gap, as city officials have recommended. They’re taking their show on the road, asking citizens to weigh in at a meeting at the Sunset Center, 8:30am, June 7. [RU]

Shoring up the Estuary…Elkhorn Slough is threatened by erosion and development, but it won't be a victim of the recession. NOAA recently awarded the Elkhorn Slough Foundation almost $563,000 for restoration, supplementing another $3.9 million in stimulus funds granted to the foundation last summer. [KA]

Spell Check…Carmel middle school student Emma Finch battles 272 other championship spellers this week in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Look for Finch on ESPN3. [RU]

Creedence Meets Prunetucky…Louie and The Lovers' music has been called a "Salinas Valley Boy version of Creedence Clearwater Revival infused with a pinch of Tex-Mex Big Star.” NPR recently featured the largely undiscovered Prunedale band, which started recording in the ’70s, for the release of its new CD, The Complete Recordings. [ZS]