ALTHOUGH MONTEREY COUNTY SUPERVISORS RECENTLY APPROVED THE HUGE RANCHO SAN JUAN PROJECT, OPPONENTS ARE TRYING TO GATHER ENOUGH SIGNATURES TO PUT THE 4 THOUSAND-HOME GROWTH PLAN TO A PUBLIC VOTE. THOSE SIGNATURES MUST BE TURNED IN TO MONTEREY COUNTY OFFICIALS BY MID-JANUARY.

A 25 YEAR OLD KING CITY MAN WAS SHOT IN THE KNEE ON SATURDAY NIGHT. ARNULFO PINEDA CLAIMS HE WAS SHOT IN THE PARKING LOT OF A BUSINESS LOCATED AT NORTH MAIN STREET AND CURTIS STREET IN SALINAS. POLICE COULD NOT FIND WITNESSES TO CONFIRM THE STORY. PINEDA, AN ADMITTED GANG MEMBER, REPORTED HE WAS APPROACHED BY A MAN WHO ASKED ABOUT HIS GANG AFFILIATION. THE SUSPECT THEN PISTOL-WHIPPED PINEDA, AND THE WEAPON WAS FIRED AS PINEDA TRIED TO GRAB HIS HAND. PINEDA?S INJURIES WERE NOT CONSIDERED LIFE-THREATENING.

THE SANTA CRUZ SCHOOL BOARD ACCEPTED THE RESIGNATION OF PACIFIC COLLEGIATE SCHOOL?S PRINCIPAL LAST WEEK. PRINCIPAL JAN KEATING IS LEAVING TO COMPLETE WORK ON A DOCTORATE AT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY. KEATING HAS BEEN AT THE SCHOOL SINCE 2002. SHE WILL LEAVE AT THE END OF JUNE OR SOONER IF A REPLACEMENT IS FOUND. BEFORE HER TIME ENDS, KEATING HAS STATED SHE WOULD LIKE TO IMPLEMENT AN HONOR CODE FOR STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL.

MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE AS LAST YEAR, HAVE BEEN ARRESTED IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE. MEMBERS OF THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL, LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS AND THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SHERIFF?S DEPARTMENT, HAVE ARRESTED 52 PEOPLE SO FAR, AND ONLY 1 ALCOHOL-RELATED INJURY CRASH HAS OCCURRED. THE ?AVOID THE 9? CAMPAIGN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL JANUARY 2ND.