Monterey Ca

Mark Bittner scanned the sky and anticipated the cacophonous arrival of his green-feathered friends, an adopted family of nearly 200 on-the-loose parrots he has made famous in both book and movie projects. "Here they come," he said softly. "Right on time." They're a renegade gang of escaped pets, born-in-the-wild juveniles and various hangers-on that include several parrot species.

A man's pantyhose led to his arrest, authorities said. An unshaven man wearing a black evening gown, fishnet stockings, calf-high boots and a black wig robbed a gas station Monday, authorities said. About 35 minutes later, police spotted a black Saab with fishnet pantyhose hanging from the driver's door, investigators said. Michael Leslie Clouse, 26, was arrested and booked on suspicion of armed robbery.

Construction is set to begin along Cannery Row on a multimillion-dollar hotel project originally approved more than 20 years ago. The Cannery Row Hotel will eradicate the last run-down section of the famed seaside street. Developers have planned 208 luxury hotel rooms, 10,200 square feet of meeting space, a 95-seat restaurant and 18,500 square feet of retail space to serve the heavy tourist strip.

A classic struggle is playing out here in the first capital of California, and it's anyone's guess who the victor will be: God or nature. On one side stands San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey, believed to be the oldest continuously functioning church in California, completed in 1794. On the other, a small stand of stately redwood trees, whose roots have made their way through the chapel's foundation and threaten its survival.

Six teenagers were arrested in connection with a home break-in and theft of a safe containing about $70,000, most of which they allegedly spent during a shopping spree that included purchase of a winning lottery ticket. Investigators said they recovered the destroyed safe, more than $30,000 in cash, video games, skateboards, lottery tickets and clothing. Police said the suspects bought several scratch-off lottery tickets, including one worth $3,000. Lottery officials invalidated the ticket.

Ruth M. Vreeland, who served on the City Council for more than 20 years, was killed Sunday in an auto accident on U.S. 101 in Monterey County. Vreeland, 68, was driving north when she lost control of her van, swerved into another lane and collided with a motor home near King City, the California Highway Patrol reported. The collision spun Vreeland's van into the center divider, where it overturned.

Police will begin digitally fingerprinting taxi drivers and massage therapists to speed up background checks. The policy change is a reaction to a cabdriver getting a license despite felony convictions. Raymond Richard Whitall, arrested April 2 in connection with two sexual assaults, was a licensed cabdriver despite a record of prior violent felony convictions. Cabbies cannot have felony convictions.

Ocean swimmers are being warned of the possible presence of sharks after a gray whale carcass was spotted tangled in a kelp bed just beyond the surf line. The young whale is believed to have been killed by killer whales, which feed on the migrating mammals off the Monterey coast in April and May, wildlife officials said. Capitola lifeguards are keeping an eye out for great white sharks that may come into the area to feed on the carcass.

A luxury cruise line acknowledged that its ship released treated wastewater into Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary off the Central California coast, violating its own environmental policies and a promise to the city of Monterey. In response, the city earlier this month said it would refuse to provide services, such as use of its pier to unload tenders, to the ship involved, Crystal Harmony.

A luxury cruise liner, the Crystal Harmony, has been banished forever from this seaside town by city leaders who were outraged that the ship disgorged 36,400 gallons of wastewater several miles offshore and then waited five months to report the incident. The ship dumped the waste, which included sewage and bilge water, into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, renowned as a refuge for dolphins, whales and other marine life. "They tried to hide it," said Carl E.