Dear Readers,

Fires on the beach are a cherished Carmel tradition, but with up to 100 fires being lit on some summer evenings, they're also becoming a problem, and a city committee this week approved new guidelines for keeping them in check. Mary Schley has the story.

The Monterey Peninsula desperately needs a new water supply, and Cal Am has a permit from the coastal commission to get started on it by drilling a desal test well in Marina, but the Marina water district is not giving an inch in the fight against the well. This week, the district's lawsuit to stop it was heard in a Monterey courtroom, with the result that the whole fight now moves to Santa Cruz. Kelly Nix reports.

Steve McInchak died in October, but his lawsuit against the city lives on, with his widow, Karen, in his place. Mary Schley has that one, too.

Environmentalists are celebrating the project to tear down San Clemente Dam, its $83 million price tag notwithstanding, and this week they were especially happy as the Carmel River started to flow in its new channel. Chris Counts has that one.

The biggest damage from last week's storms was a collapsed retaining wall at Sunset Center. Sheriff Scott Miller is facing a new lawsuit from deputies in the final days of his administration. A CHS grad who achieved fame and fortune as manager of an iconic rock band has passed away. And my editorial thanks Leon Panetta for his non-partisan insights into the controversy over CIA interrogation techniques, and also thanks the spy agency for doing everything it did to protect this country after 9/11.

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 December 19, 2014, edition, please click here.