A quaint little media brouhaha has popped up down in the seaside hamlet of Carmel-by-the-Sea (not to be confused with other Carmels, which are not by the sea). After a prudish local resident spoke out to the city council, decrying a rooftop party sponsored by Justin Timberlake's tequila company and promoted with provocative photos of some promised female attendees, free local newspaper the Carmel Pine Cone reported the complaints with the regrettable page slug: "See SLUTS page 23A."

The Carmelian neighbor Carolyn Hardy emailed city administrators before the event took place last week with curmudgeonly fist-shaking, which was reprinted [pdf link] to hilarious effect by the Carmel Pine Cone:

“Risking accusations of being prudish, I really find this appalling for our village community. Is this the character we want for Carmel in trying to bring vitality to downtown?” [Hardy] asked. “I don’t think so. I think you need to steer this ship rather than allowing [party co-organizer] Rich Pepe to do it. He needs his chain yanked.” [...]

“You might mistake them for sluts and whores in their black thigh-high boots, little black dresses abundantly overflowing with chest and hiked up to their *bleep* which also reveal thigh tattoos,” she wrote. “Let’s see, the only thing missing so far from this Carmel event? The Johns.”

Ms. Hardy went on to chastise the one-time candidate for Mayor of Carmel by suggesting he sponsor a "hooker's night out wine walk" to attract the men who were in town for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament last weekend. Adding to the media mess, the local news went ahead and called out the Pine Cone for slapping the "sluts" label on their front page. In response, the PR firm responsible for the flyers — the also regrettably named Racey Promotions — is filing a lawsuit against the paper, claiming the Pine Cone used the image without their consent. Making matters worse, two of the models in the photo were only 17 and 18 years old (they apparently didn't attend the 21+ event) and Racey Promotions now says they are at risk of cyber bullying. In his newspaper's defense, publisher Paul Miller told the NY Daily News, "The fact that some girls are shown in skimpy clothing - well that is a product of the girls posing and the clothes they wore …. It has practically nothing to do with us."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Monterey County, Bill Murray won everything with his awesome facial hair.