Dear Readers,

Did you know all public officials in California have to disclose their sources of outside income, their investments, and any gifts they receive worth more than $50? For officials in Carmel and Monterey County, the disclosures make for some very interesting reading. Mary Schley and Kelly Nix have the stories.

Residents of Partington Ridge, who've been stranded three weeks by a rockslide and will remain so for months longer, received an unexpected gift when a Big Sur inn bought an off-road vehicle for them to get to their homes. Chris Counts has that one.

A lawyer for the Sierra Club asked a court to award him $250,000 of your money for defending an effort to curtail your water supply, but a judge said, "No way."

Pacific Grove has filed suit to halt the removal of a cell phone tower in town, citing public safety. Steve Collins entered not guilty pleas to all charges, but faces trial on multiple misdemeanors and felonies. Carmel police have some fancy new wheels. The water board says everybody has to switch to even-lower-flow toilets. And my editorial expresses heartfelt thanks that we have the government to tell us what's good for us.

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. And please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments or concerns.

Paul Miller, Publisher
paul@carmelpinecone.com

To return to the download page for the January 18, 2013, edition, please click here.