No, no April Fool’s trick from me. Can’t top Monterey County Weekly’s cover story today. See here:
“It was a bound, four-color, 156-page report, wrapped by a high-gloss cover featuring a picture of a heavily loaded pack mule carrying water and other supplies, crossing Bixby Bridge, and led by a young couple. The photo caught her attention because it was not historical but contemporary, and the adventurers were dressed in straight-leg jeans and hipster jackets. Mostly it was their footwear that stood out – Wool Runners from Allbirds. These were Bay Area computer geeks crossing the famous bridge, not frontiersmen.
The report had a big red stamp across its cover: “DO NOT CIRCULATE. FOR PRIVATE REVIEW ONLY.” Naturally, Waters opened it to discover its contents.
Inside was a shocking plan, recently agreed to by the top leadership of Caltrans, Cal Fire, big insurance companies, REI, the Marriott, Joby Aviation (based in Marina) and the Association for Horsemen of Northern California. (On the draft viewed by the Weekly, several potential backers’ names were crossed out with a black Sharpie – those still viewable under a thick black line are Ventana Big Sur, California State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service and Community Association of Big Sur.)”
Um, please tell us this is April Fools….just unbelievable.
I keep waiting for “April Fool’s” even though you wrote that disclaimer at the top of this extraordinary post. First, this is a genuine scoop of the big news kind that is extinct. Congratulations to MC Weekly and to whomever left the report to be found and to the finder. In essence, the corporate elite keep running up their wins and leaving the rest of us as road kill. I know something has to be done to stop overtourism, but I am with Elon Musk, a phrase I never thought would come out of my mind or keyboard. I can’t wait to read “comments.” And . . . to fight funiculars wherever they may roam. Thanks, Kate. Spectacular.
A bit of the lead was buried, however, if I might critique the news piece. The approval of a Marriot at Point Sur is shocking and sickening. Henry Miller . . . you are lucky you are dead.
Wow, that’s an elaborate April Fool if I’ve ever seen one! At least I HOPE it’s a joke. 🙂
This can’t be for real.
Happy to report I just phoned the Weekly and this “news” is fake news: it is an April Fool’s joke. Kind of icky in the current dystopia, but to each his/her own.
Wow, that wasn’t really funny. Someone spent a lot of time stressing us out.
Well, this may be an April Fool’s joke, but a lawyer friend of mine just informed me that Montery County Weekly has filed a Chapter 7 action in the federal Central District bankruptcy court.
So much for independent “journalism.”
This was like making a joke about a 98 year old woman dying…it’s only a matter of time, so is it funny?
I also believe in magic, the overton window and quantum physics….so now that half the country thinks the road is toast, it simply will be.
Jokes on us.
Esp since it’s in print. And while it was a cute sentiment with Ethal and Lucy the donkeys, the reality is these bussiness will shrivel like banded goat nuts without the drive thru tourist at this point in time. It’s not to late to begin to alter our business interest into much more sustianable modeling. A simple reduction in the daytime speed limit would cut down on drive thru tourism and make big sur a destination again. Open the trails for safe and sane travel again and have People fly into carmel and hike or rent donkeys from the carmel side four or five day trip thru the mountians to the kingdom is a vacation of a lifetime.
Make big sur great again.
A joke doesn’t have paws, but it can sure give you a slap sometimes.
~The Cat~
What stinks is that they have a real editorial they could print about massive accumulation of T.gondii oocysts in our roof gutters, the ones that flow right to the storm drains, untreated, and into our watershed. Wouldn’t want the public to know that. Apparently that would be too devisive, but at least they are virtuous enough not to accept tobacco ads.
For what it is worth I did tell the nice person at MW editorial desk that while others might find their April Fool’s “joke” funny or clever, I found the article too close to the bone, and very distressing. Glad to read I am not alone.
I’m glad you did that, I thought about doing that myself!
Bring back ferries to Big Sur