The Buzz 10.15.15

WHO’S IN TOWN?

The U.S. Navy is throwing a 240th birthday bash, and all federal employees, contractors and military personnel are invited to the black-tie affair. Guest speaker Maj.Dennis “DJ” Skelton has served as military advisor to the deputy secretary of defense and special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His own story of resilience is inspiring: In 2004, he lost his left eye to a grenade in Iraq, then went on to serve on the battlefield again as a commander in Afghanistan. A graduate ofDefense Language Institute where he studied Mandarin, Skelton is now president of the DLI Foundation board and a masters student at the Naval Postgraduate School.

6-11pm Saturday Oct. 17. McNitt Ballroom in Herrmann Hall, NPS, Monterey. $35-70, depending on rank. 656-2060, www.nps.edu.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT

A reader wonders about the recent surge in cruise ships in Monterey Bay and how they’re monitored. According to Harbormaster Steve Scheiblauer, peak seasons for visits come when ships are traveling between the Alaska summer circuit and the winter Caribbean cycle. The city issues permits to cruise ships so they can dock their shuttles at the commerical wharf. No discharges are allowed in the Bay, or within 12 miles of shore, per. All discharges must be reported to the State Water Resources Control Board.

OVERHEARD

“Ma’am there’s a bird hanging around in the produce section.”

“Oh yeah, it’s there all the time.”

– Sand City SaveMart employee addressing an ongoing pigeon issue with a customer.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD: For years, the Forest Theater hummed along hosting plays, musicals and summer films. But all that use, coupled with deferred maintenance, created safety hazards, precipitating its shuttering in April 2014. Now renovations are underway. Even better, a donation of $100,000 has been proffered by an anonymous donor to help build a so-called “west path,” a long ramp which is planned to afford disabled patrons easier and safer passageway from seating to parking lot, concessions and restrooms. (Any leftover money will go to Indoor Forest Theater repairs.) Pacific Repertory Theater has been handed the money and charged with ensuring the wish is fulfilled. That means Stephen Moorer of PacRep plans to meet with city officials to get the path in motion and built before the scheduled re-opening in May 2016.

BAD: It is just a horrendous week for potholes. This Thursday, Oct. 15, Monterey’s John Smith launches a Kickstarter campaign for the world’s first 3-D asphalt paver. His company, Advanced Paving Technologies, promises a more efficient tool to filling potholes that uses computer modeling to calculate just how much asphalt is needed in advance. Smith plans on building the technology in partnership with the UC Davis Pavement Research Center this spring and summer. A long list of engineers, and evenCaltrans, have endorsed Smith’s project. His inspiration: how time-consuming and expensive road repairs typically are. The American Society of Civil Engineersestimates 32 percent of the country’s roads are in bad condition, costing motorists $67 billion in repairs, or $324 per motorist per year.