SQUID FRY 07.04.13 - Muddy Water…

MUDDY WATER… Squid hates muddy water – swimming in it, drinking it, brushing the pearly whites with it. There’s just nothing better than great visibility, gentle currents, a clean taste and crystal clarity that allows Squid to float in a dreamy state.

Squid’s not the only one that has a bad taste for murky water. If you read the Weekly’s cover story (“Troubled Waters,” June 13-19), you’d have learned that a bunch of local (and mostly poor) folks in San Lucas can’t rely on the local municipal water system because wells are contaminated by nitrates; instead, they line up for bottled. Weekly reporter Sara Rubin wrote the story; the cover showed a local guy carrying some empty 5-gallon jugs on his way to obtain safe water from a reliable alternative water source, the Salinas-based bottled water company Pure Water.

But someone at the Pure Water Bottling Company thought somehow the story implied THEIR water was contaminated (despite a subhed that reads “California has $455 million it can spend on making drinking water safe. So why are so many poor people in Monterey County forced to line up for bottled?”)

The story, the cover, the sub-headline, all stated the complete opposite. Still, “Pure Water has received multiple phone calls!” How did we find out about all this? Weekly publisher Erik Cushman, who spoke at a local Rotary Club luncheon at the invitation of local attorney Chris Panetta, was lurking around his mailbox hoping for a thank you note or a box of chocolates from Panetta. Instead, he got a letter demanding a retraction – and the threat of a lawsuit – signed by Panetta.

We’re sorry Panetta didn’t tell his client to re-read the story. Squid wants you to remember: If you have tap water that smells bad and tastes worse – don’t drink it. Drink something else. Something like bottled.

SMELLS LIKE GOSSIP… Squid loves the stink of the hot springs at Esalen Institute’s storied pools. The rich sulfur scent gives Squid’s beak confirmation this is a natural healing force. The pools are a big part of the reason Squid oozes down Highway 1 every Fourth of July for the annual concert on the lawns, highlighted by live music and garden-fresh foods.

This year, sources tell Squid, a not-so-fresh septic situation is preventing the party. Talk about your Fourth of July explosives. But the sewer news stinks a little – a reminder Esalen is not just the center of human potential, but the center of gossip potential.

The septic tank is finished, but the pool deck and a grease trap await further repairs, so best not to have tribes of hippies stomping, even around the construction. The trap is scheduled to be done Friday.