January 1998-January 1999

December 27th. Happy Holidays all...! Real quiet in Pacific Grove. The city decorations on Lighthouse are a mix of Disneyland and Las Vegas.  We also have major cold! High 20's to  high 40's temperature brought us  minor snow & big hail storms! 'It'll be a snow's day in P.G. we like to say' and it finally was!  Today it's still in the 30's but warming up. Sunny. Our big wish is that the [overpaid] local Police officers and Fire Department staff ["Too many chiefs and not enough Indians"] would spend time with a Toy drive or other benefits for the kids & seniors. Someday, perhaps. If you would like to encourage this just write to them at: police@redshift.com But don't expect much in the way of an answer. No one we know has ever got an answer from them by writing an email.

December 18th. Raccoons and how to control them are now second to senior housing. The old water reservoir on David is going to be discussed as a possible site for senior housing. How much to pay for it and how to pay for it, are up for discussion.  Stillwell's snow in the park was great. Free horse rides, snow and some special rides made for a lot of fun. Surf's up at Lover's Point most of the winter, come take a look at it!  Try Our: Beat That Pacific Grove Traffic Ticket! Here's How
Enjoy your Holidays. 'I would rather be alone, than lonely.' --anon

December 4th. The debate on controlling raccoons is spreading to the surrounding communities and hopefully a joint effort can be created.  The primary suggestion is to not feed the raccoons. Meanwhile, due to a more limited food supply, the raccoons are striking back, attacking pets and humans more than ever before. The City of Pacific Grove, gets a new Xmas tree.   So far,  there have been no positive comments about it, which isn't surprising as it looks like one of the ugliest trees imaginable for this purpose. Perhaps it needs some vitamins? Here is a picture of it: http://www.pacificgrove.com/wwwboard/xtree.jpg.  There is a beautiful lighted Xmas tree, a hundred or so feet tall, at Lighthouse and Park street [Near the P.G. Post Office] which is more along our lines of what a Xmas tree should look like.

November 19th. Yesterday, 150 people attended the local Community Center and debated what to do with the local raccoon situation. Because a one year old was infected with raccoon roundworm earlier this year [Probability of catching raccoon roundworm in P.G. : 1 in 50 million. Only one case in 25 years], the city employees decided catching and gassing them is the best choice [Gassing about 100 (of estimated 2000+ raccoons) to date including a reported 8 in the police chief's backyard].   We do not condone such solutions when there are more humane methods like trapping and releasing these most wonderful animals. Try: http://www.loomcom.com/raccoons/index.html for extensive information on raccoons and how to feed them [Not that we think you should]. A quote from that page says it all:
"..........with its (raccoons) industrious energy and resourcefulness, it deserves to be
             elevated to the status of the National Emblem in place of the
                     parasitically, carrion-feeding Bald Eagle."
                 -- Ivan T. Sanderson in Living Mammals of the World

".....People who intentionally feed the raccoons......are just plain stupid."
                 ------The new P.G. Police Chief,  Scott Miller, P.G. Beacon,  November 13, 1998
Guess that makes for a lot of stupid people in P.G., Scott?--handy

November 10th. "We love our wildlife, including the raccoons" Said Pacific Grove Police Chief Scott Miller tonight on the evening news, KSBW channel 8. Chief Miller is reported to have said that he caught more than eight raccoons in his own backyard. Ironically, the raccoons are then euthanized and disposed of at the SPCA, which is refusing to accept any more. Why don't they just spay the captured animals and put them back in the wild Chief Miller? Call Chief Miller at: 831-648-3143 and save the raccoons!

November 4th. 13,479 people voted in Pacific Grove on tuesday. Sandy Koffman wins for Mayor.  Knight, Honegger and Huitt win City Council seats. A great article about the Monarch Parade in P.G.: http://www.doubletakemagazine.org/issues/14/here.html
The Pacific Grove High School web site is back online with new webmasters: www.pghs.org

October 18th. The Pacific Grove High School web site (www.pacificgrovehigh.com) is shut down. This is apparently due to the fact the student webmasters no longer have time to work on the site. Does that mean that the Chamber of Commerce web site, which has the same webmaster and which has been 'Under Construction' for months, is also going to be shut down?

October 18th.  The September P.G. Triathlon results are here: http://www.tricalifornia.com/pgtri/98/results8/1998.htm.The P.G. Beacon newspaper, in an unsigned email, refused our request for one or two stories to be put on their page here (www.pacificgrove.com/beacon/). In the email, they decided that our 'program (sic)' does not fit with the paper. We would like to remind our readers that anything and everything that happens in Pacific Grove, California and then some, is part of our Internet site.  Despite the obvious lack of support from the Beacon, we'll continue to offer their page so that more subscriptions can be sold to benefit the Beacon ($15 P.G., $45 all others mail-order).

October 16th. Raccoons, carriers of raccoon roundworm, exist in P.G. at the rate of 27 per acre, more than 5 times their density in the wild. 200 people packed the Community Center this week to listen to a lecture on raccoon roundworms and how to protect their children. This follows a roundworm infection by a local child who most likely picked it up from eating dirt contaminated with feces and the eggs of the roundworm.

October 12th. The weather changes from 80 deg to 48 deg as P.G. gets ready for winter. There is a candlelight vigil today 4:30-6:30pm at Lover's Point for John Denver . The oldest camera store in California, the Camera Exchange, on Lighthouse Ave. has closed. The biggest issue for the city seems to be whether we should spend 3-4 million dollars on a new civic center or use it for housing for the disabled and seniors, which is a new project altogether, while the civic center is mostly a modification of the present building of the city offices.  One of the main reasons for a new civic center is to make meeting rooms handicap accessible. In a chicken or the egg approach, it seems completely reasonable to give houses for the disabled first so they can live here and then use the accessible civic center later. This logic seems to escape the City Council at the present moment.

September 28th: Monarch butterflies are here, they were spotted at Lover's Point in PG. Rather confused looking, perhaps from their long migration.

September 17th The Pacific Grove City Council votes to save the Monarch House. Located in the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, this beautiful old house provides protection from the wind for the Monarch grove. It is going to have some structural changes to strengthen it. Plans may call for it to be turned into a visitors center. The Monarch's are due in P.G. for their annual migration in October.  Note: They don't always show up in abundance. A lot depends on the weather. Enjoy the deer year round; you can find them all around Asilomar and the golf course and sometimes near the post office.

September 12th Triathlon ! Need a bike or a bike rental? Need parts? Want friendly service? Try PACIFIC RIM CYCLING     (831) 372-2552, 214 Forest (2.5 blocks from the Race!) We tried them, we like them. Far better than Adventures-By-the-Sea. Tell them that deaf guy sent you! Last year was one of the messiest (According to several people we talked to) events for PG, be sure to clean-up.  Whoever left 100's of white plastic fence tie pieces last year for the animals and children to chew on, don't do it this year. Thanks.

STANDOFF ! Yep, at Chopstick's Cafe, aka Tom's Cafe on the 200 block of Forest Avenue, an ex-fiance of the waiter Katie came in around 10pm Sunday night and put a gun to her head for most of the night until around 3am. At that point he surrendered. 29 officers and the SWAT team made for some excitement. No effects on the tourist industry as of yet and Katie is doing fine.

August 1, 1998. August is here, our foggiest month, as usual, with 25 days of fog. It's also the busiest tourist month.  Real tourists come in September, when it's absolutely gorgeous. AT&T finishes this month, after being rained out in Feb.

Feast of Lanterns! July 14-26......Schedule

July 5th. Foggy. 4th of July? Foggy. Fireworks in P.G.? Nope. They were in Monterey on a barge off Wharf #2. If you were standing on wharf #2 you could see them, otherwise fogged out. Fireworks are coming to P.G. later in the month for the annual Feast of Lanterns. 'Feast' meaning 'festival.' Count on them Saturday July 25th 9pm. Sometimes they mess up the schedule and they set them off at 8:45 or 9:15pm.  See them at the bottom of Forest Ave. Expect major crowds, traffic, Etc. An interpreter for the deaf is provided and the deaf need to get on the pier to see him/her. If you read this and want to know the secret free place to park, park on 20th street, if it's full, park in the parking lots for businesses located at the bottom of that street. They don't mind besides, they are closed that day.

June 21st. It's real foggy and cool/cold. Our usual summer fogfest has begun, which continues through August, which is our foggiest month with 25 days of fog (It's also our busiest tourist month). The real summer comes in September, believe it not!

The Beacon Newspaper (Http://www.pacificgrove.com/beacon/) currently has a great article on the 'comfortable' salaries of Pacific Grove City employees. 82% (Compared to about 55% of other nearby cities) of the City budget is used for paying these salaries. Such salaries as $55,000 per year for secretaries to $112,000 for the City Attorney seem excessive for a small city like Pacific Grove. The City Manager, Mike Huse ($100k+), claims that the services warrant such high salaries.  Others have noticed that the services of volunteers [For example, churches or thrift shops] are equal or better to that of city employees.  Either the city needs to pay volunteers $22.00 an hour or hire more volunteers for staff.

General Store is sold to Frank, who owns Juice & Java. Plans are for a grill with a patio. The Grill at Lover's Point remodeling plans are put on hold for another year. Senior Housing [Pacific Grove has no low income or senior housing] at the Tinkel property [In back of Lover's Point Inn] is in a state of flux due mainly to the inability of anyone to agree on what the property is worth [$650k-2 Million]. Anelle's women apparel shop opens.

The Human Race is on Mother's Day, May 9th. The British Car show on Lighthouse was a great success.

Try www.bsim.org for information on the Big Sur Marathon. Status as well as registration can be found there. Jack Defoe, of the Bronx Pizza was indicted for allegedly embezzling in 1991 from a berry farm and faces 5 years in jail. Lighthouse Cinema gets new property owners. PG gets a new area code in July. Stricter water rationing in July is in the works.

Monterey Peninsula Water District imposes water rationing this week [March 24th]. Yes, despite record rains and pools of water still in the backyards, water rationing has been imposed on us. These rules include: No watering from 9am-5pm and watering only twice a week depending on what side of the street you are on.

Yearly seasonal rainfall for Pacific Grove to date: 37"!

3-21-98 Pacific Grove High School loses the State Basketball Finals 50-59! This is the first time that Pacific Grove qualified and schools in Pacific Grove closed early so that local students could attend the game in Sacramento. Ticket price: $20. Many parents of the Middle School children were upset that they were given such little notice [From 5-12 hours] about the schools closing. Hundreds of children were released early into Pacific Grove causing the usual predicted mayhem.

Melac's reopens with new owners in April. Good Old Days April 3-5. Main street faire is Saturday, April 4th. This is our annual Lighthouse Avenue street vendor show. Dozens of vendors selling thousands of items [Most items are not P.G. related]. Food, parade and music throughout the day. The General Store is sold. Candid Camera has headquarters in Monterey but they frequently use P.G. as a shooting location. Write them if you want, P.O. Box 827, Monterey, California 93940-0827

Pacific Grove got 22" of rain so far this year. That does not include February. This is almost 250% of normal! NO major slides or floods have been reported. A lot of floor heaters were flooded. JC Penney opens a catalog store March 24 or so in the old Grove Pharmacy.

We got 8 days of rain & rain every other day after that & more coming. We do not know what the City's plan is when it comes to this sort of situation. There has been no mailings, postings, newspaper or television reporting on what we should do. Let's hope the City learns to take better care of the residents during environmental elemental attacks. The AT&T Golf Tournament was cancelled but is going to complete in August, not March. August is our busiest hotel month, so make reservations soon!

The AT&T Golf Tournament is under way. Forecast calls for RAIN the first five days of February! Due to this we believe the tournament is going to be cancelled. There are 'Vacancy' signs on local hotels in Pacific Grove. This conflicts with the news which says they are all full. Our eyes doth not deceive us, we have seen the 'No Vacancy' signs on January 30th. Melac's has been sold.

Grove Pharmacy closes! After 37 years, Ron and Betty decide to close the Pharmacy. Fantasy Island closes. C. Bell, the sculptor who did the Butterfly kids sculpture that was in front of the post office, passed away on the ski slopes. We used to have a picture of that sculpture on this site in the early days. Pacific Grove High School opens an official net site but it is still under construction and waiting approval. This months social calendar includes a Taste of P.G. at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. Tickets are $35 each and entitle you to ask the sponsors why the Taste of P.G. is located in Pebble Beach.

Old news bringing in the new year: Pacific Grove dedicates a memorial bench in honor of Kris Olinger but declines one for John Denver. Shopping season was very slow in December 1997. A slow economy and a lack of advertising by the local Chamber of Commerce is the most likely cause. $495.00 children's chairs, $275.00 rusty lawn furniture and $81 teddy bears got few takers and put Pacific Grove in the high price tag area. The local Police and Fire Departments in Monterey did a nice job of bringing the holidays to children. There was not a similar effort in Pacific Grove.