Squid Fry 11.09.17: Bunk Mates

BUNK MATES… Considering one of Squid’s closest pals – a seal – is another species, Squid doesn’t mind strange bedfellows. Not so for humans. For instance, there was a collective freakout after a black bear sighting was reported Nov. 6 at Jacks Peak County Park. (Squid went looking for said bear, despite the signs urging caution and to stay away.) Another awkward human alliance: After President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris climate accords, that put the U.S. in a category with just two other nations, Syria and Nicaragua. It appears that Syria and Nicaragua would rather not be in the same bucket as the U.S.; last month, Nicaragua signed on, and on Nov. 7, according to the BBC, Syrian officials indicated they would sign on at the new round of climate talks beginning this week in Germany, leaving the U.S. the odd country out.

The story of another cooling relationship first ran on Business Insider in a piece that delved into how a registered sex offender could end up as an Airbnb host. Say they register, but then petition for an exemption and don’t appear on a public database like Megan’s Law. Maybe the Airbnb unit is registered to someone else’s name. Maybe both of those things happen, and the host turns out to be Carmel physician Carl Bergstrom, who agreed to a plea deal in 2013 on one felony count of sexual battery by restraint, after three women at trial testified that Bergstrom had raped them.

So much for all of those positive reviews on Airbnb, where guests posted warm reviews of their stays with Bergstrom and “Sharon,” the woman who opened the account. “Sharon and Carl were great hosts,” one guest wrote.

Airbnb’s take was, in essence, whoopsies! After questions from Business Insider, Airbnb suspended “Sharon and Carl” as hosts. No word on whether they’re allowed to rent to seals.

SCHOOL HOUSE… The GOP’s tax plan has taken all the headlines lately, but in North Monterey County Unified School District, there were a couple of more modest asks on the Nov. 7 ballot. Measure E and Measure F would have authorized $76 million in bonds to, among other things, reopen Moss Landing Middle School to alleviate overcrowding, upgrade athletic fields and playgrounds, and ultimately get away from using portable classrooms. Voters sank both measures, by about 60-40 as of the most recent election results.

Maybe the messages from BigBadBonds.com got through, slamming “this school bonds cartel thing.”

In a recent post on E and F, the anti-school-bond site asked, “Do you believe in fairies? How about angels?” Squid believes in neither – but maybe the anti-E and -F campaign was meant as a lesson for the kiddos who did. After funding for their modernized school was rejected, Squid is guessing they’re no longer believers.