Cover Story
Green is beautiful
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but its origin is in the wallets of the millions of women spurring a billion-dollar industry that grows more demanding every day. Television commercials, magazines, billboards even your friendly local “healthcare provider” wield images of youthful women who’ve attained a level of physical perfection previously reserved…
FAST FACTS
Sept. 9 is your chance to support local state parks while having a really good time. Once a year, the Central Coast Natural History Association throws a party to raise money for parks and programs from San Simeon to Pismo Beach. This year’s celebration is a Royal Secret Safari a formal event that will take…
West Nile virus detected in county horses
It’s time for local equine owners to take West Nile virus seriously and vaccinate their steeds. Horses in Paso Robles, Creston, and Arroyo Grande are some of the latest victims of the mosquito-borne illness. On Aug. 24, one of the three infected horses died from the virus. The California Farm Bureau Federation noted that, according…
Kernels of contention
Measure Q the initiative that sought to ban the growing of genetically engineered (GE) crops within San Luis Obispo County may have been defeated nearly two years ago, but the local debate over GE crops rages on. After Measure Q was narrowly defeated in 2004, proponents of # the measure asked the County Board of…
Nonprofits mean big business
Nonprofits. To the cynical, they seem to always have their hands out. But there’s more to San Luis Obispo County nonprofits than just their causes and their fund-raisers: They’re a driving force in the economy, according to preliminary reports from a recent study of local nonprofits by Bill Watkins, head of UCSB Economic Forecast Project.…
Letters
Where have all the clams gone?Passing through Paso Robles today, I stopped for lunch at Margie’s Diner and picked up your latest issue. I was disappointed to note that not one restaurant listed Pismo clams on its menu. When I first visited the Central Coast in 1961, Pismo clams were the unique product and pride…
SLO news day
I thought it might have been a fluke. A one-time deal. So I bit my tongue and it hurt! I’ve got to stop doing that. And eating nothing but beef jerky for days in a row. And putting off paying back my student loans. If this was Jan. 1, 2007, I’d be making some serious…
Will the real Bob Kelley please stand up?
“They think I’m the Bob Kelly from your article. They’ve got the wrong Bob Kelly,” said Atascadero planning commissioner and city council candidate Bob Kelley spelled K-e-l-l-e-y. Note that second “e.” Following the Aug. 24 New Times story, “Atascadero leaders allegedly paved the way for Wal-Mart,” Kelley said he was bombarded with calls for Bob…
Get the party started
It’s no secret that Cal Poly likes to party, be it Mardi Gras, Halloween, Poly Royal, or Arbor Day. Any holiday will do. And students need a place to find their party hats and themed dishware, right? Thank goodness for Moai Sue. # Tucked into The Creamery (next to the old Spirits of Africa gallery)…
Accusations fly in wake of bankruptcy
“We just had to stop the hemorrhaging,” Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) director Dan Bleskey explained of his office’s Aug. 25 decision to file with a bankruptcy court in Santa Barbara. # Bankruptcy rumors had been swirling since July, but the body remained hopeful that it could reconcile its finances enough to squeak by…
This bud’s for you
Judge Dodie Harman announced Aug. 23 her intent to order the return of medical marijuana seized by San Luis Obispo police from patient Ben Breschini. The Cal Poly student faced felony charges after police found him with 45.7 grams of dried cannabis and, they claimed, no doctor’s recommendation. A medical defense later dissolved the possession…
When you ride alone …
My mom has a framed poster of Rosie the Riveter above the kitchen sink. As a kid, I knew Rosie as an authoritarian version of Women’s Lib. She backed up her bold text message with a clenched fist and a well-developed bicep that demanded you do your part or, in my case, do your own…
Camp Homeland Security
Five and a half years ago, Egyptian-born Central Coast resident Ahmed Fahmy made a mistake. # A county judge had adjudicated and dismissed prior misdemeanor charges weeks before, but ordered the Morro Bay man to stay out of bars and away from any illegal activity while the case went under wraps. However, on April 8,…
