Dear Readers,

All of a sudden, dozens of homes and cars in Carmel Valley are being burglarized, bringing hundreds of worried residents to a community meeting Wednesday night to hear what Sheriff Scott Miller is doing to stop the onslaught and catch the perps. Mary Schley has that story.

So far, this year has had the least rainfall on record in much of California, including here on the Monterey Peninsula, but the news isn't all bad, because our water use has also been remarkably low. Kelly Nix has that one.

When Carmel Valley entrepreneur Scot McKay died in July, he left behind an impressive portfolio of businesses and real estate, which his heirs says they will continue to manage just the way he would have wanted them to. Chris Counts has the details.

The P.G. city council is siding with residents of one neighborhood who oppose the P.B. Co.'s plan for affordable housing. But will 25 percent of the city's population really be harmed by the 24-unit project? A popular Mexican restaurant is closed after a kitchen fire quickly spread up a flue. In Big Sur, yet another heavily used trail is in terrible shape because of overuse and lack of funding to maintain it. Sand City is working on plans to build a second hotel on its oceanfront dunes, eliciting the usual objections. And my editorial exposes another media-fed myth about President John Kennedy who, as you know, was tragically assassinated 50 years ago Friday.

We are very proud of our newspaper, and we sincerely thank you for supporting it. As always, I am available to respond to your questions, comments or concerns about our content, and to offer advice 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

To return to the download page for the November 22, 2013, edition, please click here.