Cover Story
Devil Winds
Early settlers called it Diablo Canyon because of the unrelenting terrain and steep canyons that slice through the hills along the Pecho Coast. A few hundred years later PG&E built a nuclear power plant there, and the name stuck. The winding two-lane road leading to the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant is bordered by barbed…
Lights out at Cuesta Title
Cuesta Title Company is closing all of its offices in San Luis Obispo County as of midnight, Dec. 31. The company will no longer accept new title or escrow orders. Stewart Title Guaranty Company, an underwriter for the firm, will handle all of Cuesta Title’s existing escrows after the closure. Cuesta Title’s Division President Kathy…
Answering Christmas mail
“Dear Shredder, May the joys of the season alight upon you as the first snows blanket the mountain peaks. Sincerely, Ignatius.” Dear Ignatius, Thank you for your considerate note. May your dandruff one day abate. “Shredder, Can you please write about how brave we were to throw our shoes at the outgoing supervisors who are…
Builders adjust
Caleb Lopez is one of the lucky ones. With several big development projects on his plate and a steady flow of smaller, private jobs coming in, Lopez might be considered a rarity when it comes to being a contractor in today’s economy. Following the overall downturn of the nation’s economy and the collapse of…
Public voices ignored
Poetry, parodies, singing, and shoes were not enough to swing another vote against the Santa Margarita Ranch project. As of press time the project seemed headed toward approval, but a final decision had not been made. On Dec. 19, supervisors met in a special appeal hearing (officially called an adjourned meeting) for the Santa Margarita…
Marilyn Mayor
NEW TIMES: How is Prado Day Center faring in these tough economic times? MAYOR: Due to the economy, we have yet to reach our goal for operating expenses during a normal year, and because we’ve been seeing more people our expenses have gone much higher. NEW TIMES: What does Prado Day Center need? MAYOR: Cash…
Correction
Jill Gisler painted the image of a Native American, titled Lost Culture, that appeared on page 54 of the 11/27 issue.
Spend wisely
The holiday season is here and we must think about why we celebrate. Is it for the birth of Jesus? Is it to get together with family? To eat tons of food before our New Year’s resolutions to lose weight? Is it to put up ridiculous amounts of decorations? Or is it a time of…
Volunteer and contribute
I am a volunteer, cook, and server at the People’s Kitchen in Grover Beach. Once a month I try to come up with something yummy for those who come. My husband calls it a soup kitchen, which was what it would have been called in the Depression because that was the basis of feeding those…
Parents should teach children how to drink
If someone has never had a drink, how would they know what is too much? It would be no surprise for them to chug vodka just like beer if they didn’t know the difference. It’s no wonder that every year college freshmen turn up dead from alcohol poisoning. The causes are ignorance and trying…
Would the response have been different?
I find Cal Poly’s response to the recent fraternity-related death of one of its students very interesting. While I believe that Cal Poly has responded in a proper manner (suspending the frat and confiscating the laptops of the involved students) I wonder if things would be different had that whole Crops House thing never happened…
Sunbather beware
Regarding Cambria Grant’s letter (“The solution is overdue,” Dec. 18), I have a hard time working up much sympathy for someone who goes to an off highway vehicle area, lies on the sand reading a book, then blames the OHV user for her injury. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that an OHV area…
Forget the regrets
Regretfully no? Supervisor Achadjian, what did you mean? Those were your exact words in explanation of your vote on Friday, Dec. 19 to deny a more reasoned, thoughtful approach to Santa Margarita Ranch development, one that would take the time the project deserves, with community, agency, developer, and staff input and dialogue. Do you regret…
Help is needed
About your article on the homeless being pushed out of the creeks (“Merry Chrismas,” Dec. 18), let me give you the other side of the coin. I live in a delightful spot surrounded by eucalyptus trees, behind French Hospital. Picture waking up about 1 a.m. on a hot September night to smell smoke. I…
You never know
The SLO City Park Rangers should be ashamed (“Merry Christmas,” Dec. 18). They’ve deprived a man and woman of shelter in the middle of winter just before Christmas. But I guess they solved the homeless problem. Phew. Thank goodness that blight has been removed. Now when I revisit my once-beloved hometown, I won’t be…
Provide shelter, not misery
I’m writing regarding the article on the demolition of homeless campsites (“Merry Christmas,” Dec. 18). It’s upsetting to see how easily we can look past someone just because they don’t live according to our own standards. Where else can we expect these people to retreat? Our homeless shelters are overflowing and if we can’t…
Pillar Box Red 2006 Shiraz blend Padthaway
This showy Australian wine is quite the bargain at only $10.99 at BevMo! And don’t fear the screwcap, it’s no longer an indication of schlock. The name is in reference to the standard color of postal boxes in Australia, not this darkly hued wine. Big ripe black fruit flavors are highlighted with nuances of smoky…
Zaca Mesa 2006 Z Cuvee Estate
This distinctive red blend is delicious, with its bold ripe notes that are well-balanced and provide a mouthful of delicious fruit and spice flavors. A blend of mostly Grenache with Mourvedre, Syrah and Cinsault, the cuvee is made in the style of France’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Its forward flavors of bright blackberries and wild boysenberry aromas and…
A Champagne toast to 2009
One of the best New Year’s Eve events I thought I had planned turned out to be the worst one I ever attended. Rock-and-roll pioneer Little Richard was performing in San Francisco, so I bought tickets (I, too, question my judgment since he was popular before we were born). After dining out, my husband…
Fare thee well, 2008
Whatever your personal take on 2008 might be, there’s no denying that it was chock full of singing, dancing, acting, painting, writing, filming, hula hooping, and just about any other creative endeavor that haunts the recesses of your imagination. Unless you didn’t make an effort to attend any local exhibits, shows, or concerts, in which…
Making spirits bright
New Times What is the ultimate in holiday music? Boo Boo Records Assistant Manager and counter jockey Frank Hayes The classics—the Louis Armstrongs, the Dean Martins, the Bing Crosbys. Those are the ones that you have heard all of your life. They are filled with the holidays. You can have new artists rehashing the same…
Paso Robles City Library seeks 100 books for 100 years
As the final send-off for their 100-year anniversary celebration and to help kick off the next 100 years, the Paso Robles City Library asks for your help in providing 100 new books for its collection. A giving tree near the library circulation desk has been decorated with miniature book ornaments, representing new titles the library…
Hope in film
HopeDance Films presents Consume This Movie along with Cecile Andrews, author of Slow Is Beautiful and The Circle of Simplicity on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at Dancing Deer, located at 2975 Vineyard Drive in Templeton. Are Americans too materialistic? Are we willfully trashing the planetary ecology in order to serve the desires and drives of the ego? And…
CD Reviews
The Flaming Lips-Christmas On Mars Fulfilling a long talked about rumor, The Flaming Lips finally finished their “fantastical film freakout” entitled Christmas On Mars. With a similar campy style and acting deficiency of an Ed Wood feature, Christmas On Mars may be watchable only to loyal fans and schlock enthusiasts. However, accompanying the 86-minute DVD…
Offroaders bring prosperity
A recent commentary (“Let’s return to nature,” Dec. 11) by Nell Langford tears into the dispute over how many dollars Oceano Dunes tourism brings to SLO County. In-depth and very expensive studies have repeatedly shown that Dunes tourism brings as much as $200 million or more annually. The latest study by Dean Runyan and Associates…
California road
With more than 75 unrecorded original tunes under his belt, longtime local singer/songwriter/guitarist James Paul Dyer felt inspired to comply with a request his sister made at last year’s family Christmas dinner. After months of painstaking recording and a total of 1,400 hours at Parkhill Studios in Santa Margarita, the result is clear: his new…
Ride off
Ride-On, a countywide shuttle which caters to seniors and people with disabilities, announced that it will likely have to end the discounted senior shuttle service. The service was forced to raise prices earlier this year to three dollars for a one-way trip, citing higher gas prices. Now with the state budget crisis, Ride-On executive director,…
Have a good laugh
“When people are laughing, they’re generally not killing each other,” Alan Alda once, wisely, stated. This sentiment expresses just one reason the newly opened KwirkWorld, located at 766 Higuera St., merits a visit. When the economy most closely resembles a sinkhole, there’s nothing like a Barbie doll chandelier or a talking wall clock named Kim…
County combats child obesity
The county Public Health Department received more than $300,000 to help slim the county’s children and fight an obesity “epidemic.” The grant, awarded by the California Endowment, will help public health officials reduce childhood obesity. Nearly 70 percent of the county’s fifth, seventh, and ninth-graders in 2005 were classified as unfit by the California Department…
County small business lending holds strong
Even in the midst of a national credit crisis, SLO County banks are giving more small business loans than any other county in the U.S. Small Business Administration Central California district. According to the administration, SLO County gave 12 small business loans during the first two months of fiscal year 2009. SLO County even gave…
Transplant surgeon acquitted
Dr. Hootan Roozrokh was acquitted of a charge of abusing a dependent adult, in a closely watched local case where the transplant surgeon was accused of speeding up a man’s death so his organs could be taken. A Superior Court jury on Dec. 18 found him not guilty after a two-month trial and two days…
Dump goes green
The Paso Robles Waste Facility is going green where it can. Management there recently completed a project to add 156 solar panels, covering the facility’s entire roof. The panels will provide more than 90 percent of the facility’s power. Facility management lamented not being able to reduce the 500 gallons of diesel that garbage trucks…
Mothers for Peace help spur rule change
Local nuclear watchdog San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace won a concession from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that is expected to beef up security measures in nuclear power plants. The NRC accepted a new rule on Dec. 17 after hearing arguments from Mothers for Peace and the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The NRC has acknowledged…
Another side
New Times reported in a cover story Dec. 18 that SLO City Park Rangers wielded chainsaws to make Eddie Tolosko’s camp of 11 years uninhabitable. Joel Jones-Marino was one of the park rangers who worked most closely with Tolosko. He’s leaving his post for reasons unrelated to the story, but felt so strongly that his…
What book did you read most recently and do you recommend it?
Dan Williams photographer Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Yes John Farhar environmental resource specialist Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle Yes Jean Martin retired teacher What the Bible Teaches by R.A. Torrey Yes Sue Morris nurse practitioner Fasting by Jentezen Franklin Yes
