Dear Readers,

Cal Am says it was operator error at its Carmel Valley iron removal plant that caused brown water to flow through everybody's pipes last Friday. The discoloration was just dissolved minerals and was harmless, company officials say. Mary Schley has that story.

Speaking of utilities, these are happy days in Pebble Beach, as undergrounding of power lines gets underway. I have that one.

A woman in Carmel Valley awoke to find her house engulfed in flames Thursday morning. Mary Schley explains how she managed to escape.

Condors are being electrocuted in alarming numbers in Big Sur when they fly into power lines. What can be done to protect them? Chris Counts tries to answer that question.

In the week's most unsurprising news: Carmel has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, according to a government study. A well loved butcher at Bruno's market died on a fishing trip off Southern California. Paul Brocchini reports that the local real estate market is once again doing very, very well. We have a special section devoted to your best friends. And my editorial explains which water news you should pay attention to, and which you can safely ignore.

Thank you very much for your support of our newspaper. Please feel free to email me with your questions, comments or concerns about its content, or about how best to read it on your computer, smartphone or iPad.

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

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