Every picture has a story
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER GARDNER
 |
GILBERT
REED’S LAST DANCE Soon after Gilbert Reed retired, his dance company, the Gilbert Reed Ballet, performed its last SLO County appearance April 5-6 in a “Gala Farewell” at the Performing Arts Center. |
 |
SCREAMIN’
CREAMER David “The Screamer” Creamer made regular Friday night appearances at Spike’s Place in SLO until he started the homey “Mondays at the Peach” music series featuring local artists and their friends. Creamer left town earlier late last year to pursue bigger dreams. Mondays at the Peach are still happening. |
 |
THIS
BUD’S FOR ME After weeks of delays and dragging their feet, SLO Police officers finally complied with a court order to return Donovan No Runner’s medical marijuana, which they had confiscated despite No Runner’s proof of a prescription. |
 |
THE
RAIL STORY Seldom seen in his historic family Ah Louis Store in San Luis, 94-year-old Howard Louis had a few words to say about the contribution of Chinese to SLO County history. He talked about his experiences growing up here just prior to the dedication of Elizabeth MacQueen’s sculpture, “Iron Road Pioneers,” at Railroad Square. |
 |
SOMETHING’S
FISHY Back in September, Fish and Game claimed lingcod had been “overfished” in our coastal waters, even though Marine Biologist Terry Lilley has caught over 300 of the predator fish—“The population is actually exploding.” |
 |
BONS
TEMPS INDEED After 2001’s boisterous nighttime affair that resulted in a staggering 120 arrests, SLO’s Mardi Gras celebration finally returned in 2003 with a less rowdy—but still colorful—family-oriented afternoon parade. |
 |
GETTING
NOTICED When recall fever struck the state, San Luis Obispo used-car salesman Mike McCarthy took his “Rocky”-themed grassroots gubernatorial campaign to Sacramento … and “The Jay Leno show.” |
 |
GOOD
AS GOLD A rainbow stretches over the backside of the Morro Bay Estuary during one of several powerful storms that drenched the county in 2003. |
 |
A
MOTHER’S PAIN Elizabeth Scruggs holds a photo of her daughter, Sarah, 17, who was killed September 2002 in a Grover Beach crosswalk. The driver of the car, Kenneth Walter Freitas, son of SLO County tax collector Frank Feitas, had 19 traffic citations on his driving record, including two for road rage. The younger Freitas served time and was released to an anger management program. He later drove through the crosswalk, killing Scruggs. Police recommended charges. The case sat on the district attorney’s desk for nearly a year before Freitas was arraigned in late 2003. |
 |
OVERREACTION?
A small leak in a storage tank holding ammonia turned out to be the catalyst for a million-dollar emergency response from public safety officials and federal charges being lodged against Morro Bay businessman Chuck Marciel. More than 1,000 supporters turned up to rally support for Marciel earlier last year. |
 |
SPRING
CHICKENS The Exotic Newcastle Disease outbreak resulted in precautionary measures being implemented throughout the county in early 2003, including the closure of Charles Paddock Zoo’s walk-in aviary and restricted access to Cal Poly’s poultry science unit. |
 |
BUSTED
Back in March, a group of protesters entered Vandenberg Air Force Base through the backcountry in an attempt to shut down sensitive equipment. Several, including activist Sanderson Beck, were arrested at the front gate. Representatives from the base reported finding nothing to indicate a serious breach of security. |
 |
