Cover Story
Anchored to the Central Coast
Despite what you may think, the life of a TV news anchor isn’t all that its cracked up to be. Hours are long and unpredictable, salaries are tenuous, security is questionable, and any fame is fleeting. The whimsical nature of the business sees to that. And it forces those who try to endure to come…
Clarification
A photo of a local dump truck in last week’s issue (“Dirty Deeds,â€? April 6) was apparently recognizable to some as one of the 100 trucks belonging to Union Asphalt Inc. of Santa Maria, the biggest construction materials and aggregate supplier on the Central Coast. According to the company’s manager for regulatory compliance, Bob Kober,…
Fast Facts
In recent years, the Community Supported Agriculture Program has been introducing its members to some of SLO County’s finest fruits and vegetables and the small county farms that produce them. As a member, you will savor a bounty not found in the local markets. Fresh fruit and vegetable lovers can sign up to receive a…
Cindy Sheehan: Resistance, matriotism and belief
The Saturday before Palm Sunday, the dappled gray choir packed Santa Barbara’s Veterans Memorial Building, where there seemed to be almost as many cameras as there were people. A woman survivor of the rambunctious 60s and 70s later asked plaintively what they had to do to attract the young. Since the day two years ago when…
Paso police face excessive force suit
A cloud of depression descended upon Steven Orion Messina last spring when a confrontation with Paso Robles police left the 29-year-old North County man with a pair of gunshot wounds and facing criminal charges for striking an officer with his Chevy Tahoe. Now, a year after the incident, that attitude has turned to indignation. In…
Letters
Raising arts consciousness  Glen Starkeys essay, “The art of compromise,â€? New Times, March 30) touched on all the bumps and blessings that are synonymous with any good public art program. Sadly, one of the biggest bumps, vandalism, must be a reality in credible public art program thinking. Thanks to the forethought of SLO City Council,…
Forgery alert
Someone on the Central Coast is forging $100 bills. At least that’s what investigators think. Local police have arrested two people for passing the counterfeit cash, but have not yet uncovered the forger’s printing equipment. Bogus $100 bills have turned up in Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo. “This type of counterfeiting tends to…
You can’t go home again
A rare visit to SLO next week by a musician from Cuba brings into the spotlight the U.S. ban on travel to and from our Caribbean neighbor. It’s a prohibition that hits especially close to home for two prominent local Cuban-Americans who aren’t allowed to go back to see their families. # Delvis Fernandez, the founder…
Tea turns over a new leaf in Grover Beach
Forget the processed powdered tea you’ve downed with a little cream and sugar. Now aficionados can indulge their taste for freshly picked teas from the Fujian Mountains of China, thanks to the Dragon Pearl Tea Company, billed as “the only American tea company buying directly from the farm.â€? # “The biggest advantage is the freshness…
Raising the stakes
The man who offered $25,000 in February to anyone who finds the location of Kristen Smart’s body has upped the ante. Terry Black is now willing to pay $100,000. An ad making the announcement will appear next week. “I figure if there’s somebody out there who knows,â€? says Black, “$100,000 is going to motivate them.â€?…
It’s not hard to say goodbye
Silas Lyons is leaving. He’ll tell you that his departure from his post as local news editor at the Tribune is for family reasons and that his exit shortly after McClatchy curled its corporate fist like an iron vise around the Knight Ridder chain is merely a coincidence, but you know and I know that…
Mowing down dirty air
The biggest air-pollution fine ever imposed in SLO County not only penalizes a polluter, it’s also being used to clean up our air. Conoco Phillips Refinery on the Nipomo Mesa was forced to fork out a $900,000 penalty, after severely exceeding air emission limits at the refinery and its associated carbon plant last year. The plant was…
