Pacific Grove Ca

Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Cypress--the names of these golf courses flow through golfers' dreams like gold coins through a miser's fingers. And that is just the problem: To play them almost takes real gold. During the height of the season, Pebble Beach Golf Links is, at $330 per person, the most expensive public-access golf course in the country. Spyglass Hill and the Links at Spanish Bay, $250 and $210 respectively, are not far behind.

The City Council decided to close the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary until April to allow removal of dangerous trees. City Manager Ross Hubbard had recommended closing the tourist attraction so tree maintenance would not disrupt the monarch butterflies that make their winter home in the grove. The sanctuary was temporarily closed Nov. 27 when a New York woman was killed after a dead pine tree snapped and fell on her. Citing public safety, the council voted Wednesday night to close the sanctuary.

Susan Goldbeck hunts for scandal behind the pink walls of City Hall in this seaside town on the Monterey Peninsula. But Goldbeck is not a typical gadfly trying to pry information out of local government. She holds a seat on the seven-member Pacific Grove City Council. And when the city balked at her request for employee overtime records, she filed a lawsuit to get them under the California Public Records Act.

It all began when Malcolm Smith dashed into a seaside shop in Pacific Grove to buy a pair of sneakers. The street outside had always offered 90 minutes of free parking. But last November, the city installed parking meters. Smith ended up with a $25 ticket. And that steamed his wife, Patricia, a local activist. She called the California Coastal Commission, which responded by ordering the city to cover the 100 new meters with bags because they had been installed without the commission's approval.

The City Council decided to close the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary until April to allow removal of dangerous trees. City Manager Ross Hubbard had recommended closing the tourist attraction so tree maintenance would not disrupt the monarch butterflies that make their winter home in the grove. The sanctuary was temporarily closed Nov. 27 when a New York woman was killed after a dead pine tree snapped and fell on her. Citing public safety, the council voted Wednesday night to close the sanctuary.

During the first two weeks of spring, thousands of Monarch butterflies waken from their winter hibernation to engage in a mating ritual so rigorous and exhausting that it drains the males of bodily fluids and kills them. Danger lurks elsewhere as well: thoughtless motorists often speed through the Monarch's nesting territory in these days of passion, crushing the copulating butterflies on the pavement.

It all began when Malcolm Smith dashed into a seaside shop in Pacific Grove to buy a pair of sneakers. The street outside had always offered 90 minutes of free parking. But last November, the city installed parking meters. Smith ended up with a $25 ticket. And that steamed his wife, Patricia, a local activist. She called the California Coastal Commission, which responded by ordering the city to cover the 100 new meters with bags because they had been installed without the commission's approval.

Mary Marques-Caramico moved to this peaceful town of turn-of-the-century homes and bed-and-breakfasts less than two years ago and has quickly become one of its most recognized residents -- much to her chagrin. Tooling around town in her motorized wheelchair, she said she has been yelled at, spit at and nearly run down by a car. She regularly gets nasty phone calls and e-mails. "I used to be a very outgoing and receptive person to people on the street.

Among the blessings of California are its 1 million acres of state parks, established to preserve places for recreation and to keep intact important historical sites and wilderness areas, ranging from lush redwood forests to bone-dry deserts. Each of the 300 park "units" in the California system has its own story to tell, but only a handful feature women as leading characters.

For my family, the ocean is a unifying force, drawing each of us for different reasons. My husband, a surfer, sees the ocean and checks out the waves. I study the indelible impact of its pollution as part of my job. And when my son looks out on that vast blue expanse, he is preoccupied with one question: "What's in there?" At 2 1/2 years old, Christopher is fascinated with anything that swims, floats or sits in ocean waters, from sea slugs to blue whales.

Mary Marques-Caramico moved to this peaceful town of turn-of-the-century homes and bed-and-breakfasts less than two years ago and has quickly become one of its most recognized residents -- much to her chagrin. Tooling around town in her motorized wheelchair, she said she has been yelled at, spit at and nearly run down by a car. She regularly gets nasty phone calls and e-mails. "I used to be a very outgoing and receptive person to people on the street.

Susan Goldbeck hunts for scandal behind the pink walls of City Hall in this seaside town on the Monterey Peninsula. But Goldbeck is not a typical gadfly trying to pry information out of local government. She holds a seat on the seven-member Pacific Grove City Council. And when the city balked at her request for employee overtime records, she filed a lawsuit to get them under the California Public Records Act.

Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Cypress--the names of these golf courses flow through golfers' dreams like gold coins through a miser's fingers. And that is just the problem: To play them almost takes real gold. During the height of the season, Pebble Beach Golf Links is, at $330 per person, the most expensive public-access golf course in the country. Spyglass Hill and the Links at Spanish Bay, $250 and $210 respectively, are not far behind.

During the first two weeks of spring, thousands of Monarch butterflies waken from their winter hibernation to engage in a mating ritual so rigorous and exhausting that it drains the males of bodily fluids and kills them. Danger lurks elsewhere as well: thoughtless motorists often speed through the Monarch's nesting territory in these days of passion, crushing the copulating butterflies on the pavement.

Usually I find solace in traveling. It's the going, not the place, and sometimes it doesn't much matter where I end up as long as I can escape my unquiet spirit and world. But at Asilomar, a conference center on the Monterey Peninsula, it's the place that matters. Asilomar was designed by maverick architect Julia Morgan in the early part of the last century. It has been owned by the state parks system since 1956 and is operated by Delaware North Cos.

"Everybody got binoculars?" scientist Sarah Stock calls out to her passengers. There's a neck check. All binoculars here. Clipboards too. "I got a little bit of a library," says right-hand man and fellow scientist Jason Scott, passing along some well-thumbed books on birds, butterflies and plants. Last in is the fabled butterfly net, a tapering circle of round mesh affixed to a long pole. With more than 40 miles to cover today on the winding coast of Big Sur, the team has to keep moving.