Storm after storm has been hitting the Monterey Peninsula this week, resulting in all sorts of problems, especially in Big Sur, where the latest landslides left the community isolated. Chris Counts has the story.

An elderly woman and her caregiver barely escaped a house fire in Carmel Sunday morning. Unfortunately, their cats didn't make it out alive. Mary Brownfield reports.

PG&E announced Thursday it would offer opt-outs to its smart meter program, but they won't be cheap, and they may not be permanent. Kelly Nix has that one.

Police and two young women are celebrating the arrest of a CSUMB student who they said was bent on mayhem over a breakup with his girlfriend. Mary has the scoop.

Census figures show that some cherished beliefs about growth in several local communities may not be true. Chris Counts has the surprising details.

A woman was seriously mauled last week by her neighbor's dogs, who also killed her puppy. A group of hikers on a spring break outing had to be rescued by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office Monday after they were stranded on the wrong side of a raging river. The Big Sur Marathon will run an out-and-back course May 1 because of the damage to Highway 1. The Carmel City Council is getting ready to pick a successor to departing city administrator Rich Guillen. We have a special section, "In Your Dreams," for you this week with lots of features about amazing Monterey Peninsula homes — including one that embroiled me in quite a bit of controversy 20 years ago. And my editorial gives a high-five to PG&E's smart meter opt-out decision (but not for the reasons you might think), and takes a look at the government's increasingly clever ways to get you to do exactly what it wants you to.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments or concerns. To get this week's complete Pine Cone, please click here. If you have an opinion about one of our stories and would like to submit a letter to the editor, please click here. And if you want to see the greatest mega-shark footage ever, don't forget to visit my hot Internet links.

Paul Miller, Publisher
paul@carmelpinecone.com

To return to the download page for the March 25, 2011, edition, please click here.