Mission unveils life-sized bas relief

Suddenly, new owners at anew place

She’s old, butshe’s beautiful

— INSIDE THIS WEEK

Volume 95 No. 24 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com

Y O U R S O U R C E F O R L O C A L N E W S , A R T S A N D O P I N I O N S I N C E 1 9 1 5

June 12-18, 2009

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDCARMEL, CA

Permit No. 149

By MARY BROWNFIELD

AFTER POLICE cited seven teens for being drunk orpossessing alcohol at and outside a Carmel Youth Centerdance May 29, the CYC board of directors decided not tohost any more dances until better programs are in place todeal with the problem.

“We are currently developing a closer relationship withthe Carmel Police Department, with plans to develop a diver-sion/substance abuse aware-ness program with classes tobe held at the CYC,” boardpresident Michelle Arnoldsaid. She added that the youthcenter would consider a part-nership with an existing anti-drug and alcohol program atCarmel Middle School, “tosee how we can educate ouryounger youth as well.”

With the police depart-ment located next door to theyouth center and officers onpatrol during the dances, it’snot unusual for one or two kids to be busted for alcohol. Thatnumber climbed substantially at the most recent event, andSgt. Ken Shen said end-of-the-school-year celebrating wasprobably the reason.

The first to receive a citation was a 16-year-old girlallegedly caught with alcohol outside the youth center justafter 8 p.m. She was released to her father.

Two 15-year-old boys were taken into custody about 30minutes later for possession of alcohol and then turned overto their parents.

Just before 9 p.m., another 15-year-old and another 16-year-old were found intoxicated at the dance, and police citedthe boys and released them to their parents.

At 9:20 p.m., police determined another 15-year-old male

See FIRE page 22A See DRUNK page 23A

See GREEN page 10A

Move followsarrest of seven kids on a single night

Jazz prodigy Esperanza Spalding, whosings and plays standup bass, will per-form at Sunset Center next season.

Get your complete Carmel Pine Cone every Thursday evening in convenient pdf format via email. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com.

Cypress Inn evacuated during midnight fireBy MARY BROWNFIELD

AN ELECTRICAL fire forced the evacua-tion of the Cypress Inn for several hours lateSaturday night, but the damage was mostly con-fined to one room, no one was injured, and theguests got a taste of the town’s hospitality when anearby church and a restaurant took them in out ofthe cold.

Though the slow-burning fire evidently startedawhile earlier, police officers and firefighterswere summoned to the downtown inn, which wasat capacity, just before 11:30 p.m. June 6 aftersomeone reported smelling smoke and a firealarm activated.

Arriving first, police officers didn’t see anyflames but found smoke and began evacuating the44-room hotel.

“It worked pretty well,” reported CarmelPolice Sgt. Paul Tomasi. Police officers and thenight manager went door to door, waking peopleand checking their names off a list as they made itto safety. Many were dressed in pajamas andbathrobes, and some toted dogs with them.Rooms of those unaccounted for were opened andcleared, to ensure no one was left behind.

“The hotel was almost completely evacuatedwhen we arrived, and the last few guests wereexiting as we got there,” said Carmel Fire Capt.Bruce Meyer. “Some of them with bags packed.”

Fire inside a wallPolice told firefighters there was smoke in the

hotel, and Room 115 appeared to be the source.In the room, Meyer removed his gloves to feel

the wall and found it hot. The thermal imagingcamera indicated the temperature was higher thanit should have been, and Meyer knew the hotel’skitchen was on the other side of the wall and won-dered if that might be the source.

“But the farther up I felt, it got very hot — justtoo hot,” he said. “And then smoke started comingout of the smoke detector.”

He had never seen anything like it and thought

A fire burned unde-tected inside a wallat the Cypress Innuntil firefightersripped it apart todouse the flames.Meanwhile, dozensof evacuated hotelguests waited in thestreet until a nearbychurch and a restau-rant took them in.

Youth center’s boardsuspends dancesdue to teen drinking

Sunset Center raises curtain on its ambitious new schedule

By CHRIS COUNTS

SUNSET CENTER’S performing artsschedule is getting a big makeover for the2009/2010 season. Executive director PeterLesnik unveiled the new lineup at a launchparty June 10.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and Ithink this is the best season I’ve put together,”said Lesnik.

He is particularly thrilled about bookingEsperanza Spalding, a jazz prodigy who singsand plays bass. “She’s turning the jazz worldon its ear,” Lesnik noted.

A big fan of the Pilobolus dance company,he’s excited they’re on the new schedule aswell.

“They’ve been together for more than 30years, and their work is at the highest level it’sever been in terms of artistry,” Lesnik said.

P.I. searching for stolen gold coins

Council favorsgreen building rules

By KELLY NIX

A PRIVATE investigator tracking $2.5million in gold and silver coins stolen from anelderly Pacific Grove woman four years agosays a suspect has been identified in the theft,and an indictment could be forthcoming.

The precious coins, owned by 101-year-oldLillian King, went missing in 2005 when Kingwas removed from her oceanfront P.G. homeafter police found her living in squalid condi-tions.

While King’s grand niece, Cynthia Hurley,pleaded no contest to taking some of thecoins, and others were later reported missingfrom a Monterey storage unit, more than $2million of the precious coins were neverfound.

But Monterey private investigator KarenVillars, who is working to recover the coins,said she has new information in the case thatcould break it wide open.

“There have been some very interestingdevelopments,” she said.

“I’m turning some reports over to the localpolice departments and possibly to the attor-

ney general’s office to get someone indicted,”Villars said Wednesday, while declining toidentify the suspect.

The Pine Cone contacted Villars after court

By MARY BROWNFIELD

THE CARMEL City Council announcedlast week it supports requiring people to usemore environmentally friendly practices andmaterials when building homes and business-es.

The council had been asked to weigh in onthe merits of a potential green building pro-gram, and members encouraged planning andbuilding services manager Sean Conroy tobring a proposed law forward for considera-

See SUNSET page 18A

PHOTOS/BRUCE MEYER, VIVEK MEHRA

See COINS page 23A