Your guide to summer on the Monterey Peninsula INSIDE THIS WEEK’S PINE CONE FunFun inin thethe SunSun Volume 96 No. 22 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com May 28-June 3, 2010 Y OUR S OURCE F OR L OCAL N EWS, ARTS AND O PINION S INCE 1915 ‘Backyard dogs’ and Firefighters: We didn’t have enough their owners subjects water for Robles del Rio blaze of enforcement effort By MARY BROWNFIELD By KELLY NIX THE HISTORIC Robles del Rio Lodge, designed and built by M.J. Murphy in the late FOR TWO years, Rhonda Somerton listened to the 1920s as a focal point of Carmel Valley Village, incessant barking of her neighbor’s dog, an animal that lived burned to the ground early Sunday morning after mostly in solitary confinement in a backyard and was given being vacant for a decade due to lack of financ- little shelter and care, let alone love and affection. ing for the owners’ expansion plans. The lonely dog, a border collie/Labrador mix named Firefighters from the Carmel Valley and Cole, prompted Somerton to spread the word about “back- Monterey County Regional fire protection dis- yard dogs” — a term for dogs left by their owners to live their tricts who responded to the blaze said they existence outside, sometimes chained, with little care. couldn’t get enough water from nearby hydrants “What we have is sort of an epidemic of people who get to battle it effectively, and the fire could easily dogs and just keep them isolated and alone in the backyard, have spread to the surrounding neighborhood. with really no contact,” said Somerton, of Seaside. “These Neighbors in that hillside subdivision began dogs become unsocialized. It’s a form of neglect.” calling 911 shortly after 3 a.m. May 23, and by Though most dog owners understand the importance of the time the first fire engine arrived four min- giving an animal affection, Somerton and her mother, utes later, the building was already engulfed in Dorothy Somerton, are sending the message to neglectful flames, according to Carmel Valley Fire dog owners that it’s not OK to leave a dog penned up and Division Chief Miles Schuler. ignored. After standing for “The roof had already collapsed,” he said. “Dogs have been bred for thousands of years to be com- eight decades, “There were a couple of walls standing when we panions to man,” she said. “When they are isolated, it’s real- Robles del Rio lodge got there, but they weren’t standing for long.” ly horrific for them.” burns to the ground Hampered by the cyclone fence surrounding The Somertons are preparing to distribute fliers provided early Sunday, leaving the property, firefighters got through but then by the SPCA for Monterey County that let people know what piles of rubble and a had to contend with the area’s old water system, fireplace standing. to do if they believe a dog is being neglected or abused. which Schuler said lacks adequate storage to “The fliers explain who we are, what we do to help ani- defend the homes there from a wildfire. The 18 mals, and what cruelty and neglect are,” said SPCA spokes- crew members worked for two-and-a-half hours woman Beth Brookhouser. “They encourage people to call PHOTOS/(TOP) KATHERINE to bring the conflagration under control. KLAWANS SMITH, (BOTTOM) MARY BROWNFIELD See DOGS page 20A See FIRE page 31A Mistaken for sniper, bird researcher SUPES DECLARE MORATORIUM ON WELLS By PAUL MILLER volume of only 2 percent, as opposed to 10 gets visit from armed deputies to 20 percent in alluvial soils,” county envi- DESPITE A paucity of evidence that an ronmental health director Richard LeWarne By CHRIS COUNTS was also hiding behind a camouflaged emergency exists — and with only a few per- told the board. blind, which perhaps added to the bicy- mits in the pipeline — the Monterey County He cited two subdivisions in northern MAX MEHLMAN is adept at hiding Board of Supervisors enacted an “urgency” Monterey County that have had problems from woodpeckers at Hastings Natural See BIRDS page 19A moratorium this week on well permits in with fractured granite wells running dry and History Reservation in upper Carmel most of the Monterey Peninsula and suggest- implied the same thing could happen with Valley. But while Mehlman was surrepti- ed the restrictions could later be extended to wells for single homes. tiously keeping an eye on a woodpecker’s the entire county. nest Sunday afternoon, he was completely After complaints from several residents See WELLS page 18A unaware that someone was watching him of Carmel Woods about owners of vacant as well. Imagine his surprise when he dis- lots in the neighborhood drilling wells so covered a sheriff’s deputy standing just a they could build on their land, 5th District few feet away and pointing a shotgun at Supervisor Dave Potter requested an ordi- Local beaches him. Two other deputies, each pointing a nance be drafted to study whether the wells Glock pistol, flanked the officer with the were viable for long-term use. shotgun. “This is the responsible direction to get good grades Mehlman was apprehended, questioned head,” Potter said Tuesday before supervisors and released by deputies who decided he unanimously adopted the moratorium. By KELLY NIX wasn’t a sniper, despite a report from a “Some of these lots are awfully small sites, bicyclist on Carmel Valley Road who and if you have multiple homes drilling wells AN ENVIRONMENTAL group called the Monterey County Sheriff’s on multiple sites, it could affect health and has given eight Monterey Peninsula Office to report someone hiding with a safety of the water supply.” beaches nearly perfect marks for low gun in the brush. Officers understandably Ironically, the moratorium doesn’t apply levels of harmful bacteria. approached the bird researcher with every to wells that tap into the Carmel River In a report released Wednesday, possible caution. aquifer, where a water shortage has caused a Heal the Bay, a Southern California “The poor kid was terrified,” recalled 15-year moratorium on water permits from nonprofit that every year issues report Mark Stromberg, the resident director of the Peninsula’s water company, Cal Am. cards for dozens of West Coast beach- the reserve. Instead, this week’s ban applies to property es, gave beaches in Carmel, Pacific While it is unknown who alerted the PHOTO/COURTESY HASTINGS RESERVE owners whose land sits on top of “fractured Grove, Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and sheriff’s office, it is likely that Mehlman’s Max Mehlman uses a camouflaged blind granite,” which can contain substantial water Monterey scores of A’s, with the excep- spotting scope gave the bicyclist the and a spotting scope to study woodpeck- but is not as reliable a water source as tradi- impression that a sniper was lurking. He ers. He does not use a gun. tional aquifers. See BEACHES page 29A “Fractured granite has a water storage 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 28, 2010 COUNTRY Sandy Claws HOME CARE By Margot Petit Nichols Private Duty Home Care CNA’s • Caregivers • Companions XOUBIT MOREY, 5, thought she was being kid- napped the day Mom Suzy adopted her when she was 11 weeks old. Xoubit (pronounced Zoo-bee), a very Celebrating 28 Years of Award Winning Service! fetching beagle, set up a terrible howl on the way to When Caring Counts… Count on Country Home Care Carmel. When she arrived at her new home and saw her personal bed lined with toys, she went into what Mom 831-333-2070 called “her Stockholm syndrome” — loving her abductor. www.CountryHomeCare.com Xoubit is Mom’s constant companion. They go for a Judy Higgerson, RN, MBA walk every afternoon on the path above Carmel Beach, President Certified Senior Advisor where Xoubit looks for her favorite couple, Dave and Cathy, who always have a treat for her. Her fave person, other than Grandma Virginia and Mom Suzy, is Molly Brown, and the “mixed couple” to whom she is most par- tial is Liz and Tilly — Liz being a mom and Tilly being a rat terrier. moles who live underground near the walking path. No Mom Suzy describes Xoubit as a “social butterfly,” matter how many times she gets sandy earth kicked up which has gotten her into trouble in the past: Her in her face by a mole during her investigation, when the favorite ploy for getting beach playmates is to hunker mole’s head appears, kind Xoubit never attacks, merely down in a “let’s play” posture, enticing even big dogs to stares at it as if to say, “Who are you and what do you chase her. Once during this game, she was tackled by a mean in the infinite scheme of things?” great big dog who inadvertently broke her tail. She ate a bee once, but after the vet administered Xoubit is curious about everything, especially about Benadryl, her pretty head returned to its normal size. CCC visitor center hosts open house WITH THE primary goal of ensuring everyone knows how to direct tourists to the Carmel Chamber of Commerce’s visitor center by the time the town is flooded with foot traf- new location fic during the June 14-20 U.S. Open golf tournament at Pebble Beach, the chamber will host an open house Friday, June 4, executive director Monta Potter announced this week. “All Carmel businesses should send their permanent and temporary summer staff to the visitor center for food, drink and door prizes,” Potter said.