Monterey Blvd. isn’t quite the time warp we’ve seen elsewhere around town—we’re thinking of Mission in the Excelsior; we’re also thinking of Amethyst in Diamond Heights. But just the same, it’s clear that few things have changed in recent years (decades?) on this Sunnyside thoroughfare between Edna and Foerster.

Something else is apparent as well: Several businesses here go out of their way to not let us forget what street we’re on. Monterey Cleaners operates its own plant. Monterey Auto Service is an official brake and lamp adjusting station. Immediate neighbors Monterey Pizza and Monterey Salon ought to join forces and offer some sort of meat lovers’ pedicure special. Monterey Blvd. proudly wears its status as Official Business District of Sunnyside like a big blue #1 ribbon at the county fair....

A pod of orcas has been seen off the coast of Monterey Bay, way far south of where the whales normally travel. Scientists are guessing that the "collapse" in the chinook salmon population is responsible. Normally, these whales from the Puget Sound, never need travel south of the Columbia River, which empties on the border between Washington and Oregon. Since this is the sixth year the whales have been seen off of Monterey, the current......