Michaela Kuenster
Pop and Hiss, 215 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove, instagram.com/popandhiss
When a few residents of Pacific Grove threw up roadblocks in August 2023 to Michaela Kuenster’s plan to turn an empty downtown storefront into a record store/live music venue and bar, she told the Weekly: “We’re living in the town of Footloose, but I’m about to Kevin Bacon it!” Kuenster used the reference to the 1984 movie to attract dozens of supporters to write letters to the P.G. Planning Department and pack the room at a Monday morning zoning administrator hearing on Aug. 21. During the hearing, Kuenster made reference to another movie to argue why, even though her business didn’t quite fit P.G.’s current code for music venues, it still belonged: “‘Nothing in the rule book says a dog can’t play football,’ Air Bud joke, anybody?” Kuenster said, eliciting a laugh from the audience. She won a ruling in favor of her permit at the end of the hearing.