Art Festival Kids Art Day BULK RATE U.S
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Complete schedule of events inside Carmel Plein Air Competition Carmel Youth Art Show Sculpture in the Park Art Festival Kids Art Day BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID CARMEL, CA Permit No. 149 Volume 94 No. 20 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com May 16-22, 2008 Y OUR S OURCE F OR L OCAL N EWS, ARTS AND O PINION S INCE 1915 Dog on mend after beach rescue Local real estate market by police, fire, bystanders picking up, realtors say ■ Bargains bring out 25 and 30 homes were sold on the By MARY BROWNFIELD Peninsula, according to county buyers; upper end records. Since August 2006, most A COLLISION with a submerged rock at also strong weeks have had only 15 to 20 home Carmel Beach Saturday morning severely sales. injured the chest of a greyhound who was romp- By KELLY NIX In a May letter to employees, ing in the surf. Keller Williams Carmel area manag- But thanks to the help of Carmel firefighters AFTER NEARLY three years er Janet Reilly said April marked the and a local veterinarian, the dog survived and is of declining values, sluggish sales realty firm’s best month ever. And recovering after emergency surgery, her owners and overall pessimism, the Monterey Coldwell Banker Del Monte’s Tim were happy to report this week. Peninsula real estate market has Allen said he’s breaking personal “None of us thought she was going to make made a significant upturn in the past records for sales in some segments it,” said Jan Avent, who adopted Petey four years few months, according to realtors. of the market. ago from a rescue group that finds homes for for- The president of the Monterey mer racing dogs. “She’s looking great.” PHOTO/COURTESY JAN AVENT County Association of Realtors this Out of the woodwork Avent and her husband, Dave Rossetti, live in week reported sales are stronger than A Wall Street Journal article last the San Francisco Bay Area but also have a home Petey the greyhound rests comfortably after colliding they have been for past two years, week predicted April 2008 will mark with a submerged rock at Carmel Beach and being in town and were walking their dog on the beach while other realtors say they’re the bottom of the U.S. housing mar- stitched up by a Crossroads vet Saturday. the morning of May 10. As greyhounds are wont breaking sales records. ket, meaning home prices have to do, Petey was running ahead of them at the “There is definitely the sense tapered off and the trend won’t get north end, and the tide was out. around one of the outcroppings running and she mis- things have picked up,” said Kim any worse than when the bust began “We were enjoying the beach like everyone judged. She went through water and collided with a DiBenedetto, a realtor and president in mid-2005. else was Saturday morning, and Petey was just rock that was below the surface, and it ripped open elect of MCAR. “I think people are The article said homes on average exploring the tide pools and having a great time her chest.” really getting the message it’s a good are back to being as affordable as around the rocks,” Avent recalled. “She came See RESCUE page 28A time to buy.” during the 1990s. Potential buyers In the past four weeks, between who had been priced out of the mar- ket are realizing they can afford to get back in, it said. River parents pitch in to refill Highland Elementary coffers DiBenedetto said that same trend is occurring locally. By MARY BROWNFIELD with penny drives and a walk-a-thon, and all that money was intended to “I’ve got buyers calling me out of support them.” the woodwork who have been hold- AN IMPROMPTU pass-the-hat effort during a Carmel River School River School parent Todd Hornik, a Monterey County deputy district ing off the last couple of years,” she fundraiser helped repair some of the pain and loss suffered by students at attorney and candidate for Superior Court judge, heard the story first- said. “All of a sudden they are ready Highland Elementary School in Seaside after their clerk forged checks to hand. Two days prior to River School’s annual Spring Fling fundraising to go.” steal $10,000 that had taken the kids five years to raise. dinner and auction at Mission Ranch, he watched the sentencing of 23- Whether the upturn will have “It’s been a tough year in terms of not having those funds and not year-old Laura Javier Barroso, whom he prosecuted. She had pleaded longevity is anybody’s guess. being able to provide the activities that we would,” principal Donna Kiernan told The Pine Cone this week. “Our children raised those funds See DONATE page 10A See REAL ESTATE page 21A Ted Leidig’s suicide leaves family, friends distraught Poet, publisher and By MARY BROWNFIELD modern-day troubadour ESTAURATEUR AND longtime Monterey Peninsula R By CHRIS COUNTS resident Ted Leidig, a member of one of Carmel’s oldest fam- ilies, committed suicide in his family’s remote Carmel Valley REMARKABLE creative odyssey ended last cabin late Wednesday morning, according to the Monterey A week when Ric Masten died after a nine-year battle with County Sheriff’s Office. Leidig was alone in the cabin when prostate cancer. he died of a gunshot wound to the head from a .38-caliber “He went out tap- revolver. He was 63. ping his fingers to the “He had called two friends of his, and they were both con- music,” reported his cerned,” said Sgt. Mike Richards of the coroner’s office. daughter, Jerrie “One of them made the initial call to 911 that prompted the Hanson. “He died deputies to respond, and another showed up shortly after and peacefully and grace- actually heard the gunshot. The deputies probably arrived fully.” two minutes after that.” Surrounded by his They summoned Carmel Valley Fire Department and an family, Masten passed ambulance, first for help getting through the gate to the prop- away May 9 at his erty and then to stand by in case medical care was needed. home in Palo Colorado “No evidence of criminal activity was found at the scene,” Canyon. He was 78. he reported. An autopsy is planned for May 16. Masten was born and raised in Carmel, ‘Generous and kind’ where his father, Born June 28, 1944, and raised in Carmel, Leidig attend- PHOTO/MARY BROWNFIELD Richard T. Masten, ed Sunset School and Carmel High. On Ocean Avenue last August, Ted Leidig (left, in sunglasses) Rick Masten in 2000 after cuts the ribbon for the new medians to which he and his fam- See MASTEN being named Carmel’s ily donated. Next to him are his cousin, Glenn Leidig, and page 11A “People’s Poet.” Glenn Leidig’s wife, Marian. See LEIDIG page 25A Get your complete Carmel Pine Cone every Thursday evening in convenient pdf format via email. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com. 2A The Carmel Pine Cone May 16, 2008 Two Girls City takes in more $$ but spends less From Carmel ■ Sunset Center gets favorable report, too at $9,721,682 for the first nine months — $185,871 less than the budgeted $9,907,553. SPECIALISTS IN HOUSEKEEPING By MARY BROWNFIELD Most of it related to salaries and wages, which were $156,224 under budget at $4,750,677, due to job vacancies. Bonded • Free Estimates The budget also showed $39,951 in savings in the employ- EST. 1979 DESPITE ONGOING reports of a slumping national economy, revenues from property and hotel taxes were high- ment insurance program, which had been estimated at SO MANY er than expected for the first nine months of Carmel’s fiscal $519,955, a $28,472 drop in property/liability insurance to DIRTBALLS… year, administrative services director Joyce Giuffre told the $258,920, and $14,349 less than the budgeted $262,700 for city council May 6. And each of the “Big Three” — proper- destination marketing. SO LITTLE TIME ty, hotel and sales taxes — generated more money than dur- Those and other savings were partially offset by over- spending of $68,091 for the city’s share of the Carmel Weekly or every other ing the same period last year. Those taxes make up a large share of the city’s Regional Fire Ambulance, which had been budgeted at week – we’ll tailor our $293,736 for the first nine months of the fiscal year but services to meet your needs. $13,483,672 2007/2008 budget. Transient occupancy tax was estimated at $2,911,800 for the nine months ending March required more due to an auditing adjustment by CRFA. Other 626-4426 31 but was actually $3,005,075, largely due to increased overages included $17,551 for workers’ compensation insur- room rates and more frequent collecting by the city, accord- ance, which totaled $415,931, and a $1,946 increase in utili- ing to Giuffre. ties over the budgeted $145,423. Property taxes, predicted to be $2,202,219 during the first Finally, she reported the money designated for capital pro- three quarters, were actually $2,207,597, though sales taxes, jects was also in good shape, with actual expenses coming in Did you know... anticipated at $1,674,722, came in $11,660 below target. $272,460 under the budgeted $1,124,485 for two dozen “Other revenue sources are ahead of budget,” she said, equipment purchases and construction jobs.