Dear Readers,

There's a new sheriff in town, in the persons of mayor Dave Potter and councilman Jeff Baron, and one of their first orders of business is to figure out what to do about the controversies around city attorney Glen Mozingo. Mary Schley has the story.

When a mountain lion visited the front yard of a Pebble Beach home two weeks ago, the homeowner was surprised, and a little concerned. When the lion came back again Wednesday night, he was amazed. Kelly Nix has that one. And we have pictures.

A homeowner who lives by the Carmel River lagoon decided to be proactive about protecting his house from flooding, so he built a low wall. But was it legal for him to do that? Chris Counts reports.

The complexity of the questions from potential Flanders Mansion curators about the ins and outs of living there and fixing the old place up, and the city's extensive responses, make fascinating reading -- if you're a total Flanders Mansion geek. Speaking of historic resources, the county has approved a big tax break for one of the most historic properties in Pebble Beach. Carmel police officers saved a young man from the wave-tossed rocks along the ocean Sunday night. A woman has sued a local doctor claiming he left a "surgical instrument" inside her -- and it stayed there 16 years. Carmel High's remarkable football season came to an end Saturday, but the boys have plenty to be proud of. We have another Holiday Guide for you full of Monterey Peninsula events and shopping opportunities. It's so important to shop locally! And my editorial takes note of some of the stories that seem to pop up on the news all the time, and asks, "Why?"