Paul O'Dowd moved to Albuquerque in July from Big Sur, Calif. He was the general manager of Ventana Inn and Spa , 30 miles south of Carmel.

On a Wednesday afternoon, Maggi Jane and Pierce Ternay hang out at an RV camp in Malibu with Diver, their 2-year-old daughter, and Pokey, their 10-year-old black lab.

Today is the last day to catch this exhibit featuring the self-portraits of 100 students at Mission Hill Middle School.

"Vagabond Dawns," by Carolyn Mary Kleefeld . Local connection: Carolyn Mary Kleefeld lives in Big Sur.

Big Sur poet and artist Carolyn Mary Kleefeld can often be found on the cliffs of Big Sur reading poetry to a resident condor.

The first gray whales of the season are expected to return to Monterey Bay in the next few weeks, and you don't have to be on the water to enjoy the view.

Sometimes when you want to go on vacation, you really want to get away from it all.

To judge by their tightly wound, country-tinged pop songs,A Olivia Mancini and the Mates aren't shorting their craft.

The seventh presentation of the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay will be held in both Monterey and Pacific Grove on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Two southbound off-ramps will close due to the Seventh Annual Big Sur Half Marathon to be run along Highway 1 at 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov.

New Yorkers gathered to celebrate the publication of The Veselka Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Landmark Restaurant in New York's East Village by Tom Birchard and Natalie Danford on October 28.

Fans of Big Sur are praising legislation introduced by Rep. Sam Farr on Friday that would provide more money and protections to the vast Central Coast wilderness.

A federal bill seeking to make the Big Sur portion of Los Padres National Forrest a separately funded unit and expand protected wilderness areas in Monterey County was introduced Friday.

Plans to pay for the Big Sur portion of Los Padres National Forest separately, add more than 2,000 acres to the Ventana Wilderness and prevent dams on some local rivers are all part of legislation submitted to Congress Friday.

A T THE FESTIVAL in the Forest in Big Sur two years ago, the Oakland-based folk outfit Port O'Brien distributed a barrage of pots and pans to audience members to encourage rhythm participation in their highly contagious anthemic singalong, "I Woke Up Today." Today, such rambunctiousness seems an eon away.

Monterey-Salinas Transit will provide free bus service for the Big Sur Food and Wine Festival on Nov.

La Selva Beach resident Tracy Hagen might start listening more to her mother-in-law. Hagen, a periodontist's hygienist who loves to capture a perfect sunset or flower, has always looked at picture-taking as something fun to do in her free time.

Monterey County Free Libraries gives you the gift of fine free months during November and December.

Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard October 26th, 2009 at Lincoln Hall By Marcie Garcia The Lincoln Hall stage presented an unlikely duo Monday night.

There was only one man to call. The mission was this: to give the worldwide environmental awareness exercise called International Day of Climate Action our own local flavor.