July 20 - 26, 2012
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Dear Readers, The regional desal plant may be dead, but its ghost is causing plenty of trouble for the government agencies that tried to make it happen. The latest nightmare is a legal claim -- full of shocking allegations -- brought by Monterey County this week against the Marina water district. Kelly Nix has that story.Meanwhile, a state agency says Cal Am's new desal plan is the only one of several competing proposals that has a prayer of meeting a 2017 water supply deadline. And a proposal to turn Pacific Grove's largest building into a hotel is running into a predictable roadblock: It doesn't have enough water. Kelly has those stories, too. After vehement opposition from some downtown business owners, the idea of an outdoor market on Ocean Avenue has apparently been shelved -- for now. Mary Schley has the details. A house fire that may have started in an overloaded powerstrip spared the lives of the building's human occupants, but not one of its canine ones. The suspect in a notorious DUI fatal car crash near Pt. Lobos failed to show up for a court hearing and has been jailed. It's official: Scenic Road will soon be one-way all the way to the city limit. If you've ever wondered exactly how and when the city spends your tax dollars, we have a blow-by-blow account of last month's checks, plus an account of what it will cost to replace a humble footbridge in Mission Trail park. Is ex-mayoral candidate Rich Pepe finished with politics? No way, says Tony Seton's column this week. Joe Livernois takes a hard look at why Congress is such a failure. If you love animals -- especially the ones who live with you -- you won't want to miss our great new special section, "Pet Talk." And my editorial proposes a simple and obvious way to eliminate the global warming problem (in the United States, anyway). To get this week's complete Pine Cone, please click here. If you have an informed opinion about one of our stories and would like to submit a letter to the editor, please click here. To comment on our Facebook page, click here. And, as always, you should not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments or concerns. Paul Miller, Publisher |