Cover Story
Sea sick
By all accounts, Jennifer Jozwiak is a healthy, athletic 38-year-old woman who mountain bikes and surfs regularly. Yet this quintessential California blonde, the picture of vitality, gets sick every time she surfs the Pismo Beach area. “Last summer, around mid-July, I came back from vacation and # started my six-day-a-week surfing routine and just noticed…
Leave me alone
This is not a good morning. I haven’t had my coffee yet, and at this rate, I never will. That’s fine, though, because I’m giving up caffeine. And nicotine. And a number of other chemical relaxants and stimulants. I’ve gotten so good at giving that stuff up, I’ve been giving it up regularly for 10,…
Bound for Mexico
Though the San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay Fire departments saw many of their rank assisting other departments throughout the state battling blazes, each sent a firefighter to the Otay Mesa California border, where they crossed in a donated 1983 Mack fire engine on July 27. # San Luis Obispo Fire Department Capt. Jerry James…
E-mails raise access questions in Atascadero
In response to allegations from numerous residents that the city of Atascadero violated the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by denying the existence of any official city e-mails mentioning Wal-Mart following a July leak of two such e-mails Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley pointed out the city’s policy of purging all e-mails older than 90 days.…
Carrizo Plain plan gets new life
Land-use planning for the future of the vast Carrizo Plain National Monument in eastern SLO County is back on track, after a 15-month hiatus following the May 2, 2005, suicide of its frustrated manager, Marlene Braun (“Death on the Plains,” Nov. 17, 2005). The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has appointed a nine-member advisory committee…
The mayor race is on
And then there were four. City councilperson Christine Mulholland and local business owner Donald Hedrick announced that they’ve decided to add their names to the San Luis Obispo mayoral race. Along with city councilperson John Ewan, they’re challenging incumbent Mayor Dave Romero for his seat. The official filing date for the November election is August…
Selenium disposal decision delayed
A controversial proposal that considered dumping the Central Valley’s selenium-contaminated irrigation water into Estero Bay near Cayucos has been delayed. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced August 1 that it’s postponing a court-ordered decision which was expected this week on a location for disposal of the tainted waste. Piping it to Estero Bay was one…
County approves medicinal marijuana IDs
With a pair of county supervisors in favor of implementing a medical marijuana ID program and two more proposing a deferral, county board chairman Katcho Achadjian cast the deciding vote to provide long-awaited San Luis Obispo County validation to the 1996 Compassionate Use Act. That piece of legislation, along with the subsequent Senate Bill 420,…
For lease: One ocean
Energy hardliners in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate continue to duel over specifics in a bill giving the green light to offshore drilling. California senator Diane Feinstein took the floor on July 31, hoping to curb a movement to accept Congress’ permissive version of the proposed law. That edition of the bill…
Who wants these nukes?
Uranium-238 boasts a radioactive half-life of almost 4.5 billion years. The more uncommon and instable Ur-235 isotope decays half its atoms in a mere 700 million years slightly less eternal. # While it appears epic already, the study and discussion over how to manage such materials promise to endure for decades if not centuries but…
Letters
Recognize the hidden cogs of our economy As I was walking my wife’s dog around the neighborhood this Sunday morning, I realized that Poly, Cuesta, and SLO High students don’t get enough credit for their major contribution to the SLO economy. Thank you, students, for keeping the auto body repair shops busy. Jim ScottSLO …
Secure our borders
Examining the sociopolitical landscape of America today, I cannot fathom how the problem of illegal immigration remains other than the occasional outburst here and there so relegated in the public discourse. In light of the economic impacts, it has emerged as a dilemma, clearly, we as a nation can no longer afford to ignore. Earlier…
Get out
Former New Times writer Jennifer Best’s family travel guide has topped the local best-seller list compiled by The Novel Experience. After three weeks on the shelves, Best Family Adventures: San Luis Obispo County, surpassed local sales of the recent New York Times bestseller Marley and Me by John Grogan. # “I was pretty surprised,” Best…
